From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Affray \Af*fray"\, noun [OE. afrai, affrai, OF. esfrei, F. effroi, fr. OF. esfreer. See {Affray}, verb (used with an object)]
1. The act of suddenly disturbing any one; an assault or attack. [Obs.]
2. Alarm; terror; fright. [Obs.] --Spenser.
3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. ''In the very midst of the affray.'' --Motley.
4. (Law) The fighting of two or more persons, in a public place, to the terror of others. --Blackstone.
Note: A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an affray.
Syn: Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest; feud; tumult; disturbance.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Affray \Af*fray"\, verb (used with an object) [p. p. {Affrayed}.] [OE. afraien, affraien, OF. effreer, esfreer, F. effrayer, orig. to disquiet, put out of peace, fr. L. ex + OHG. fridu peace (akin to E. free). Cf. {Afraid}, {Fray}, {Frith} inclosure.] [Archaic]
1. To startle from quiet; to alarm.
Smale foules a great heap That had afrayed [affrayed] me out of my sleep. --Chaucer.
2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away.
That voice doth us affray. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: noisy quarrel [syn: {altercation}, {fracas}]
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0