Definition of "skirmish" [skir•mish]

• A minor battle in war, as one between small forces or between large forces avoiding direct conflict. (noun)
• A minor or preliminary conflict or dispute: a skirmish over the rules before the debate began. (noun)
• To engage in a minor battle or dispute. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This skirmish is the first which has taken place on the soil of this State."
• "For me, that they are weapons of questionable efficacy in this ideological skirmish is the mark of their most indispensable value."
• "The main skirmish between French and Indians I know of in that era occurred upriver, at Natchez."