affray
/əˈfreɪ
/noun Law, dated
An instance of group fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace: Lowe was charged with causing an affray [mass noun]: a person guilty of affray...
- At a hearing earlier this month, the accused pleaded guilty to causing an affray during a fight in a pub in April.
- His criminal record also includes armed robbery, affray, assault, theft and public order offences.
- The plaintiff was the widow of a man killed in a criminal affray.
Synonyms
fight, brawl, battle, engagement, encounter, confrontation, melee, clash, skirmish, scuffle, tussle, fracas, altercation;
disturbance, commotion, breach of the peace, riot
informal scrap, dust-up, punch-up, set-to, shindy, shindig, free-for-all
British informal, Sport afters
Origin
Middle English (in the general sense 'disturbance, fray'): from Anglo-Norman French afrayer 'disturb, startle', based on an element of Germanic origin related to Old English frithu 'peace, safety' (compare with German Friede 'peace').
Although an affray is now a disturbance of the peace caused by fighting in a public place, its first meaning was ‘alarm, fright or terror’ or ‘frighten’. Its root is the old Norman French word afrayer, which also gives us afraid (Middle English).
Rhymes
- gibberellic acid
- gibberellin
- gibber-gunyah
- gibberish
- gibber stone
- gibbet
- gibbon
- Gibbon, Edward
- Gibbon, Lewis Grassic
- Gibbons, Grinling
- Gibbons, Orlando
- gibbosity
- gibbous
- gibbously
- gibbous moon
- gibbousness
- Gibbs free energy
- Gibbs function
- gibbsite
- Gibbs, James
- Gibbs, Josiah Willard
- Gibbs phase rule
- Gibbs' phase rule
- Gibbs's phase rule
- Gibbs’ function