1
: a combat between two persons
specifically
: a formal combat with weapons fought between two persons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between antagonistic persons, ideas, or forces
also
: a hard-fought contest between two opponents
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight a duel
: to encounter (an opponent) in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Examples of duel in a Sentence
Noun
They engaged in a duel of wits.
a duel for the title of captain of the team
Verb
He accepted the challenge to duel.
Legislators dueled over the tax increases.
The two runners dueled for the lead.
Recent Examples on the Web
Jeff Rueter, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
California’s Capitol has seen countless conflicts between economic interests, but few match the intensity of a duel between the fast food industry and labor unions that seemingly ended two years ago with compromise legislation raising the minimum wage to $20.
—Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 19 Feb. 2025
Maggie Horton, People.com, 20 Feb. 2025
The dueling lawsuits are currently slated to head to trial in March 2026.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
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Noun
Michelle Cooper, 22, winger (Kansas City Current) Another USWNT rookie, Cooper showed her ability to defend along the front line last season, ranking ninth among wingers and attacking midfielders by winning 50.3% of her duels.
—Jeff Rueter, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
California’s Capitol has seen countless conflicts between economic interests, but few match the intensity of a duel between the fast food industry and labor unions that seemingly ended two years ago with compromise legislation raising the minimum wage to $20.
—Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 19 Feb. 2025
Verb
The Flip Off stars Christina Haack and Heather Rae El Moussa are two of the most recent celebrities to step out in the flattering style, although the dueling HGTV personalities never quite committed to leaving the skin-tight silhouette behind in the first place.
—Maggie Horton, People.com, 20 Feb. 2025
The dueling lawsuits are currently slated to head to trial in March 2026.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
Cite this Entry
“Duel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duel. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
duel
1 of 2 noun
du·el
ˈd(y)ü-əl 
1
: a combat between two persons
especially
: one fought with weapons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between two opponents
duel
2 of 2 verb
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Etymology
Noun
from Latin duellum "duel," from an archaic form of earlier bellum "war"; revived in the Middle Ages to mean combat between two persons because the du- suggested Latin duo "two"
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