skirmish: [14] English adapted skirmish from eskermiss-, the present stem of Old French eskermir ‘fight with a sword’. This in turn went back to a Frankish *skirmjan, a relative of modern German schirmen. A variant of skirmish arose with the i and r sounds reversed, giving scrimish, which is the source of modern English scrimmage [15] and also of scrummage [19] and its abbreviation scrum [19]. => scrimmage, scrummage
skirmish (n.)
late 14c., from Old French escarmouche "skirmish," from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio, probably from a Germanic source (compare Old High German skirmen "to protect, defend"), with a diminutive or depreciatory suffix, from Proto-Germanic *skerm-, from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
Influenced in Middle English by a separate verb skirmysshen "to brandish a weapon," from Old French eskirmiss-, stem of eskirmir "to fence," from Frankish *skirmjan, from the same Germanic source. Compare scrimmage. Other modern Germanic forms have an additional diminutive affix: German scharmützel, Dutch schermutseling, Danish skjærmydsel. Skirmish-line attested by 1864.
skirmish (v.)
c. 1200, from Old French escarmouchier, from Italian scaramucciare (see skirmish (n.)). Related: Skirmished; skirmishing.
实用例句
1. There had been a skirmish in the half light of dawn.
天朦朦亮的时候曾经有过一场小规模的战斗.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. The verbal skirmish is viewed as the opening round in negotiation schedules to start next Tuesday.
这场争论被看作预定下星期二举行的谈判的序幕.
来自《用法词典》
3. A conventional skirmish would escalate into a nuclear exchange.
传统的小规模战斗更有可能逐步升级为核战争.
来自辞典例句
4. We won a skirmish, and we'll win him some more.
