Meaning & use
duel
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Meanings
nouncountable
A formal fight between two people with agreed weapons, usually to settle an insult or a point of honor.
Grammar: Countable: a duel, two duels; often used with 'fight' or 'challenge someone to'.
Patterns
- fight a duel
- challenge someone to a duel
- a duel between two people
In the nineteenth century, an officer might fight a duel to defend his reputation.
The two men met at dawn for a duel with pistols.
He was challenged to a duel after insulting the general.
nouncountablefigurative
A fierce contest or struggle between two people or groups, especially one that tests skill or intelligence.
Grammar: Often used figuratively, especially in phrases like 'a duel of wits' or 'a duel between rivals'.
Patterns
- a duel of wits
- a duel between rivals
- a duel for something
The chess match turned into a tense duel of wits.
The two teams are locked in a duel for the championship.
Their debate was a verbal duel that lasted for hours.
verbintransitive
To fight a duel with someone, or to compete closely against a single opponent.
Grammar: Usually intransitive: they duelled at dawn. Can take 'with' or 'against': he duelled with his rival.
Patterns
- duel with someone
- duel against someone
- duel over something
The two aristocrats duelled with swords at sunrise.
She duelled with her opponent for control of the board.
They duelled over the last piece of cake.
Word forms
| plural | duels |
|---|---|
| third person singular | duels |
| past tense | dueled |
| past participle | dueled |
| -ing form | dueling |
Common combinations
- fight a duel
- He refused to fight a duel, saying it was barbaric.
- challenge someone to a duel
- The young officer challenged his rival to a duel.
- a duel of wits
- The interview became a duel of wits between the two politicians.
- duel with pistols
- They duelled with pistols in a field outside town.
- a duel to the death
- The story ends with a duel to the death.
Synonyms and how they differ
- combat
- Combat is a general word for fighting, often in war, while a duel is a formal, arranged fight between two people.
- contest
- Contest is a neutral word for any competition; duel suggests a direct, often personal, one-on-one struggle.
- showdown
- Showdown is informal and means a final, decisive confrontation; duel is more formal and can be literal or figurative.
Word family
- duelist noun
- A person who fights duels or is skilled at duelling.
- duelling noun
- The activity or practice of fighting duels.
Commonly confused: duel or dual?
duel vs dual
Dual means 'having two parts' (dual purpose), while duel is a fight. They sound the same in American English but are spelled differently.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'duel' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Duel' means a formal fight, so 'challenged his rival to a duel' fits. 'Duel exhaust' is wrong because the word for 'two' is 'dual'. The other options use 'duel' as if it meant 'edit' or 'build', which it does not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “duel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.