melee

noun

1. (countable, especially, uncountable)A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

   “Honestly, a lot of what this episode did right had more to do with the scenes that surrounded the enormous melee than those hyper-edited clashes of swords.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A loud, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.

   “The ball did not appear to cross the line, a view supported by television replays as Blues captain John Terry also joined the melee, but referee Atkinson awarded the goal - to the obvious anger of Spurs and their management team.”

   “Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver said Tuesday that the federal assault charges filed against her a day earlier related to a chaotic melee outside an Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility are “absurd.””

3. (countable, uncountable)Any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.

   “Within this melee of intersections between English and Cantonese, the students, being themselves bilingually fluent, were able to navigate with perfect ease in communicative contexts where the provenance of a certain term or expression matters little.”

4. (countable, uncountable)Lively contention or debate, skirmish.
5. (countable, historical, uncountable)A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.
6. (countable, uncountable)Small cut and polished gemstones sold in lots.
7. (capitalized, countable, uncountable, usually)The video game Super Smash Bros. Melee.

verb

1. (slang)To physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of a weapon: used in close-range combat, e.g. a sword. Compare with ranged.

   “A melee weapon is used to attack a target within 5 feet of you, whereas a ranged weapon is used to attack a target at a distance.”

2. (not-comparable)Of a character, using melee weapons.