Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 3, 2024 is: melee \MAY-lay\ noun

Melee refers to a confused fight or struggle, especially one involving hand-to-hand combat.

// What started as a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melee)

Examples:

"The battle scenes are a Hollywood mishmash of medieval melees, meaningless [cannonades](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannonade), and World War I-style infantry advances." — Franz-Stefan Gady, Foreign Policy, 2 Dec. 2023

Did you know?

English has no shortage of words for confused and noisy fights, some ([fray](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fray), [brawl](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brawl), [scrap](https://bit.ly/3J6dR3R)) more common than others ([donnybrook](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/donnybrook), [fracas](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fracas)). Melee tends to be encountered more often in written rather than spoken English, but it is far from obscure, and has seen increasing use especially in the context of video games featuring some form of hand-to-hand combat. Such games allow players to [mix it up](https://bit.ly/4cUqA7w) with all manner of rivals and [baddies](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baddie) from the comfort and safety of their home, with mix being an especially apt word alongside melee: the latter comes from the French word mêlée, which in turn comes from the Old French verb mesler, meaning "to mix."