Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A violent fight between or as if between dogs.
- noun An illegal, organized fight between dogs, arranged for spectator entertainment and betting.
- noun An aerial battle between fighter planes.
- intransitive verb To arrange illegal dogfights.
- intransitive verb To engage in a dogfight.
- intransitive verb To engage in a dogfight with.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A twisting turning
battle between two or more militaryaircraft , especially betweenfighters . - noun A fight between dogs.
- verb To engage in a battle between fighter planes.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a fiercely disputed contest
- noun an aerial engagement between fighter planes
- noun a violent fight between dogs (sometimes organized illegally for entertainment and gambling)
- verb engage in an aerial battle with another fighter plane
- noun disorderly fighting
- verb arrange for an illegal dogfight
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dogfight.
Examples
-
Once the Soviets were gone, these groups started a full-blown civil war, mainly for power and money—the kind of battle that is called a dogfight by our people.
A Woman Among Warlords Malalai Joya 2009
-
"Two struggling teams; we should have been in a dogfight from the first bucket."
USATODAY.com 2004
-
Btw., Why is that combat between airplanes is called a dogfight?
Pictures from the pre-debate "visibility rally." Ann Althouse 2008
-
No one who goes to a dogfight is a bloody Braveheart.
The Bloomsday Dead Adrian McKinty 2007
-
A dogfight is the same, no matter what your instruments ...
Battlestar Galactica Carver_Jeffrey 2006
-
Philadelphia coach Larry Brown turned the game into a low-possession dogfight, which is the way it must be in Life Without Iverson.
USATODAY.com - Bucks handle Iverson-less 76ers to take 2-1 lead 2001
-
What they are calling a dogfight is what I would call a fur ball of a dogfight.
WN.com - Articles related to F-16s for Pak could cloud IAF's 126-plane deal: India to US 2010
-
What they are calling a dogfight is what I would call a fur ball of a dogfight.
WN.com - Articles related to F-16s for Pak could cloud IAF's 126-plane deal: India to US 2010
-
What they are calling a dogfight is what I would call a fur ball of a dogfight.
WN.com - Articles related to F-16s for Pak could cloud IAF's 126-plane deal: India to US 2010
-
What they are calling a dogfight is what I would call a fur ball of a dogfight.
WN.com - Articles related to F-16s for Pak could cloud IAF's 126-plane deal: India to US 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.