brawl
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɹɔːl/
ipa: /bɹɔl/
ipa: /bɹɑl/
rhymes: -ɔːl
Forms: form: brawls
Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English braulen, brall, brallen (“to clamour, to shout; to quarrel; to boast”); further etymology is uncertain, but the word could be related to bray and ultimately imitative. It may be cognate with Danish bralle (“to chatter, jabber”), Dutch brallen (“to boast”), Low German brallen (“to brag”), Middle High German prālen (“to boast, flaunt”) (modern German prahlen (“to boast, flaunt, vaunt”)).
The noun is derived from Middle English brall, bralle, braul, braule, brawle (“disturbance, squabble; brawl”), from the verb braulen: see above.
Senses: examples: text: Three Ciuell brawles bred of an airie word, / By the old Capulet and Mountague, / Haue thrice diſturbd the quiet of our ſtreets.
ref: c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
text: The complaint charged that the defendants, on, etc., at, etc., "in a certain public place, to wit, in a certain school-house in which a singing-school was then and there being held, did make a great brawl and tumult, and stamped their feet on the floor, hissed, used loud and saucy language, and were guilty of rude, indecent, and disorderly conduct."
ref: 1874 December 18, John M. Shirley, state reporter, “State v. Rollins”, in Reports of Cases in the Superior Court of Judicature of New Hampshire, volume LV, Concord, N.H.: Published by Josiah B. Sanborn, published 1876, →OCLC, page 102:
text: It has been reported that an entertainment took place not long ago in a certain "hot spot" in New York City, and it has been charged that members of the Federal Communications Commission were present; that they got into a drunken brawl; and in the brawl some woman was hurt, her arm twisted.
ref: 1940 June 21, “Further Statement of Thad H. Brown, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.”, in Nomination of Thad H. Brown: Hearings before the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, Seventy-sixth Congress, Third Session on the Nomination of Thad H. Brown on Reappointment as Federal Communications Commissioner […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 81:
text: Robert Carlyle appears as Begbie, who starts brawls with almost anyone who crosses his path; [...]
ref: 2017 January 26, Christopher D. Shea, “‘T2 Trainspotting’: The early reviews”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2018:
synonyms: word: row
word: scuffle
word: squabble
word: argument
word: argy-bargy
word: altercation
word: barney
word: bawl out
word: blue
word: bobbery
word: brawl
word: clash
word: conflict
word: controversy
word: debate
word: difference
word: ding-dong
word: disagreement
word: discordance
word: disharmony
word: disputation
word: dispute
word: dissonance
word: disunion
word: dustup
word: face-off
word: falling out
word: feud
word: fight
word: flite
word: hassle
word: quarrel
word: quibble
word: row
word: spat
word: squabble
word: tangle
word: threap
word: tiff
word: wrangle
word: fight
word: affray
word: dust-up
word: fracas
word: kerfuffle
word: ruckus
word: set to
word: set-to
word: stoush
glosses: A disorderly argument or fight, usually with a large number of people involved.
Derived terms: barroom brawl
basebrawl
basketbrawl
beanbrawl
bench-clearing brawl
brawlsome
brawly
footbrawl
line brawl