Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Irregular fighting between small parties; a skirmish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of skirmish.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word skirmishing.

Examples

  • All along the road we met Canadians coming up and saw them advancing across the fields in skirmishing order,85 in one case their captain walking ahead swinging a bamboo cane ....

    War Story of the Canadian Army Medical Corps John George 1918

  • Father's supper, to watch her check off the rich dark caramels she unfailingly kept on hand for us, to share her wickedness in skirmishing to avoid outsiders, or to connive in her intrigue to outwit the cat of perpetual unpopularity in her esteem, – what other joys could drag us from these?

    The Single Hound: Poems of a Lifetime 1914

  • The White Company (or Europeans) of the C.M.R. under Lieut. Salis were ordered to cover the front of the column in skirmishing order, and to feel round the hills, but not to fire a shot unless fired upon.

    The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B. 1903

  • “It doesn’t rise to the dignity of a battle,” he noted, “but is called skirmishing.”

    Cavalryman of the Lost Cause Jeffry D. Wert 2008

  • “It doesn’t rise to the dignity of a battle,” he noted, “but is called skirmishing.”

    Cavalryman of the Lost Cause Jeffry D. Wert 2008

  • Largely forgotten in the skirmishing were the proposals of President Obama's debt commission, which was co-chaired by Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson R-Wyo.

    Worst Week in Washington: The President's debt commission 2011

  • When different units get together in a camp the amount of thieving, technically called skirmishing, is beyond belief to anyone unaccustomed to camp life.

    The Incomparable 29th and the "River Clyde" George Davidson

  • Now Weitzel believed that, by pursuing his advance in what might be called skirmishing order and working his way gradually forward from the vantage-ground of Fort Babcock, he might gain, without great addition to his losses, already heavy,

    History of the Nineteenth Army Corps 1865

  • In the next place, the maid-servants, gaily dressed, run about, playing and jesting upon all they meet, and amongst themselves, also, use a kind of skirmishing, to show they helped in the conflict against the

    The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Plutarch 2003

  • We lost odds and ends and followed the recognised custom, known as "skirmishing," and in the end were only short of our full complement by a crossbar and a bicycle.

    The Incomparable 29th and the "River Clyde" George Davidson

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.