How To Use Skirmish In A Sentence

Tanks often attacked the outskirts of the city in skirmishes with resistance fighters, adding to the chaos and unrest.
Getty Images The membership of Tom Coburn R., Okla. in the group prompted a skirmish with antitax activists. Senate 'Gang' Hashes Out Deficit Plan
Soon the men of F Company that were detailed to serve in the carbineer company joined us; they had been on the skirmish line all the forenoon, but became somewhat mixed when the firing commenced, and were ordered to report to their respective companies. History of Company F, 1st Regiment, R.I. Volunteers, during the Spring and Summer of 1861
I was aware of the odd skirmish with dogs growling at each other and even a very occasional bark.
These men were a kind of skirmishers for the main body, which could be seen some distance behind. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

In short, it was to dilapidation what the American Civil War was to skirmishing.
After some initial skirmishes, the company managed to entrench its rule, often through the authority of amenable local rulers.
Minor skirmishes broke out all along the border.
It was a political skirmish. Times, Sunday Times
Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War.
The brave Negro troops went forward at a double-quick; the skirmishers were the first to reach the embankments, and were greeted with a shower of bullets which tumbled many headlong and lifeless into the pits. A School History of the Negro Race in America, from 1619 to 1890, With a Short Introduction as to the Origin of the Race; Also a Short Sketch of Liberia.
I never got the feeling that this was an actual skirmish occurring in front of me.
Joan answered that she had made one skirmish (escarmouche) in front of Paris. Joan of Arc
When some of the dust of those culture war skirmishes cleared, the budget of the NEA had been riven.
I'm still waiting for three- or more-sided skirmish and multiplayer battles.
Brighton is going to be the first skirmish in a long fight. Times, Sunday Times
Island, and the carbineer company of our regiment, were thrown out as skirmishers. History of Company F, 1st Regiment, R.I. Volunteers, during the Spring and Summer of 1861
No, this won't be a naval skirmish with some oppressive foreign dictator.
Skirmishes with pirates as well as a concentrated campaign to eliminate one particular group early in his career had provided him with opportunities to excel.
And, just as in that war, innumerable inconclusive skirmishes were fought. The Runaway Brain: the Evolution of Human Uniqueness
None of them bothered to change out of their street clothes, expecting a short skirmish only.
So there I was - Colonel Harry Paget Flashman, late of the 11th Hussars, 17th Lancers and the Staff, former aide to the Commander-in-Chief, and now acting-sowar and rear file in the skirmishing squadron, 3rd Cavalry, Bengal Army, and if you think it was a mad-brained train of circumstance that had taken me there - well, so did I. Fiancée
Billsburg, we can hear the since familiar _tick -- tack_, _pip -- pop -- pop_ of a rattling skirmish, and the _vroom -- vroom_ of volley firing. The Continental Monthly, Vol 6, No 5, November 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
A seven-way skirmish then broke out over a pinafore dress costing 10p, which escalated into a full-scale melee resulting in another 18 lives being lost.
A landing on the Eastern Shore, today also known as the Delmarva Peninsula, ended in disaster as Gilbert and two other men were killed in a skirmish with a native tribe. Archive 2006-08-01
She then said that she had made an assault, called in French/escarmouche/(skirmish), upon the town of Paris. Jeanne d'Arc
Yet the battle in Manchester is a mere skirmish compared with the one which lies ahead. The Sun
There was a short skirmish between the political party leaders when the government announced it was to raise taxes.
Nobody close to what happened said it was anything other than a minor skirmish. Times, Sunday Times
Looked in control in the early skirmishes. Times, Sunday Times
A correspondent from General Sherman's army says that the Whitworth rifle in use by the Southern skirmishers and sharpshooters is a weapon greatly to be feared, as persons nearly a mile and a half from the Foreign and Colonial Intelligence
Legal skirmishes can be expected across the country as gay couples seek recognition of their new marriage licenses.
The English Civil War Society will be staging a reconstruction of a skirmish that took place in Marlborough during the Civil War.
Relations with Israel have long been contentious and border skirmishes are fought periodically between the two nations.
The favorable legal climate does not mean that skirmishes don't occur.
The promised blood and snotters had also failed to arrive with only the odd skirmish to disfigure what was turning into an enthralling game of rugby.
Hardee's men collided with Federal skirmishers before daylight, and the Confederates soon struck three Union divisions without fieldworks under Brig.
Now, in five years, there have been no provocations save one, a naval skirmish in 2002.
In a straight fight the crusaders usually won; in skirmishes, the Saracens often overcame their more numerous opponents.
And, just as in that war, innumerable inconclusive skirmishes were fought. The Runaway Brain: the Evolution of Human Uniqueness
Border skirmishes between India and Pakistan were common.
Some of the explorers died during subsequent skirmishes, but in nothing like the numbers of the natives who suffered from introduced scourges like syphilis, which the French and the British always sanctimoniously blamed on each other.
Their battalions practised skirmishing on the glacis with that routine assiduity which is the secret of the German military success. Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places
Minor skirmishes broke out all along the border.
That was just a minor skirmish though. Times, Sunday Times
There was now open skirmishing between the Greeks and the Latins.
They bullied us in those opening skirmishes. Times, Sunday Times
And Artaxerxes had heard something about a skirmish of ships near some island called Salamis, in which the king of Sidon had been embarrassed by certain Greek captains. The Battle of Salamis
After the initial skirmishes of the battle, the French withdrew to their massive citadel.
The SEALs have been involved in a number of skirmishes along the Cambodian border, and in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Thailand.
Joan answered that she had made one skirmish (_escarmouche_) in front of Paris. Joan of Arc
‘I grew up with it, getting to know the various places of battles, skirmishes, sieges, ambuscades, ancient strongholds and war trails,’ wrote William.
The party is braced for skirmishes, not least from local party male dignitaries enraged that they have been barred from fighting in their local seat. Times, Sunday Times
When these disappeared, she fought and won a brief skirmish with her conscience.
The army reached Iconium in the middle of August and skirmished with Turkish forces near Heraclea later that month.
If ye hae led me astray, ye skirmishing blastie, I'll let ye ken the weight o 'this! The Dew of Their Youth
The brief skirmishes in the featured two missions certainly gave an appetizing foretaste of what is hopefully to come.
I was getting a bit annoyed, knowing that he would turn up on the doorstep drunk and argumentative and I could think of a million and one things I would rather do than skirmish with a drunkard.
But they can expect little sympathy from the anti-globalisation protesters, already skirmishing yesterday with the police in south-west France.
Teddy Roosevelt was the same though he had a few minor skirmishes.
This turned a diversionary skirmish into the main theatre of war.
Three men died in a skirmish with armored personnel carriers.
The young soldier was killed in a skirmish with government troops.
A skirmish broke out after troops ran across a boat belonging to the rebels.
Tuesday's skirmish with the tribunal judges was merely the latest of many acrimonious bust-ups.
Billy Davies: Nigel Clough "kneed" me during skirmish Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph
Road, halloing "Sour douk, sour douk"; tinklers skirmishing the edges of brown plates they were trying to make the old wives buy -- and what not. The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith
Occasional skirmishes continued over the border during the 1980s, with over 1,000 people being killed.
After skirmishing with a civilian wagon train on O'Fallon's Creek, they crossed the Yellowstone River two or three days before Christmas.
They have wounded in all of our men in 3 days skirmish about 8 or 9 men, one or two mortally, which is not half the number that we have killed for them beside wounded .... The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn
It's long-term recon, not just some skirmish to dart in and bust out some new squirrel he's keeping. The Peacock King: Book 1, Chapter 1
A little after this, they skirmished briefly with Byzantine troops.
Other privileges soon followed, along with a few military skirmishes. World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity
They skirmished briefly with soldiers from Fort Benton.
My first little skirmish took place over a film, one about rape.
ROBERTSON: Well, what the Taliban has been trying to do, according to NATO commanders, is turn from a phase one insurgency, which is small groups of armed men, trying to take control of perhaps a road or a strategic road junction, trying to fight limited skirmishes, to ambush convoys, to turn it into what they call a phase two insurgency. CNN Transcript Feb 15, 2007
Some have dismissed the review as a minor skirmish when the real war lies elsewhere. Times, Sunday Times
There will be a couple of minor skirmishes at the end of chapter four, where the hero learns humility. Times, Sunday Times
Looked in control in the early skirmishes. Times, Sunday Times
The preferred venue for this skirmish is often the pages of literary works. Times, Sunday Times
Rather than a peaceful gathering, the assembly descended into an auditorium-wide field of skirmishes that ended in 11 suspensions and two arrests.
Fix the enemy in place using skirmishes, artillery, feints, and demonstrations while probing his lines.
Short of adverse personnel actions, a few skirmishes have broken out involving controversial campus events and visitors.
Garibaldi was always or almost always victorious (in reality he fought brilliant guerrilla skirmishes which piety later turned into vast and tidy battles); he was the first to be called Il Duce, a pompous nineteenth-century opera libretto title, by antonomasia (Mussolini had been called Il Duce by his socialist followers before 1914 and took the title with him to the Fascist party). The Not So Great Dictator
The young soldier was killed in a skirmish with government troops.
He fought a war with Chad, skirmished with Egypt, and trained a commando group which attacked a city in southern Tunisia.
And the Korean navies clashed in a larger skirmish in late 2009. North, South Korea trade shots; no injuries
There were only a few minor skirmishes left, but they were quickly being ended.
And among the skirmishers were the Rifles, the men of the Ninety-fifth. Beyond the Sunrise
Manton knew well, when he made this allusion to mischief formerly done to the crew of the Foam, that he touched a rankling sore in the breast of Scraggs, who in a skirmish with the natives some time before had lost an eye; and the idea of revenging himself on the defenseless women and children of his enemies was so congenial to the mind of the second mate, that his objections to act willingly under Manton's orders were at once removed. Gascoyne, The Sandal-Wood Trader A Tale of the Pacific
Physical appearance is simply a determinator of "ours" or "theirs" and has been ever since tribal skirmishes began. 10 Thoughts on "Day The Earth Stood Still"
Yet the battle in Manchester is a mere skirmish compared with the one which lies ahead. The Sun
There had already been a few sporadic skirmishes along their heavily fortified border.
And, as many of us may remember from our own early skirmishes, it does not go well. Times, Sunday Times
Quickly following Miller in the charge came the infantrymen and Winters's dismounted cavalry moving as skirmishers.
You don't want let children see you waging a war, but having them witness what Doherty calls "low-level skirmishes" is healthier for everyone. Www.startribune.com
The incident illustrated on the first page is where the riflemen are advancing their skirmishers through the undergrowth towards the Confederate gum, while other Federal regiments are making a flanking movement by a detour on each side to clear the pine woods. Illustrations of the Civil War in America
There were skirmishes, flirtations and drunken fumblings all the way up the east coast, but never the right person or the right time.
The Constitutional Court's decision is only a skirmish in the broader battle between the executive and the judiciary.
Some other, being of lowe and base condition, by adventuring in many skirmishes and foughten battels, trampling in the bloud of their brethren and friends, have bene mounted to the soveraigne dignity of Kingdomes (beleeving that therein consisted the truest happinesse) but bought with the deerest price of their lives. The Decameron
For the next several weeks, the 82nd and the rest of the Army skirmished with the Confederates around Marietta and Kenesaw.
Thatcher lost nothing, making only a tactical retreat from a skirmish to prepare for the real battle.
And, as many of us may remember from our own early skirmishes, it does not go well. Times, Sunday Times
Ten minutes, and fifteen skirmishes later, they were back at the appointed place.
A squadron of mosquitoes -- a sort of _escadrille de chasse_, as it were -- kept me awake until daybreak, when they were relieved by a skirmishing party of _cimex lectulariae_, which are well known in Where the Strange Trails Go Down Sulu, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Cambodia, Annam, Cochin-China
Skirmishes continue to break out in the US over science education in public schools.
Unless you have units fighting in formation, skirmishers which is what most characters in D&D are will move around a room quite a bit. Abstract Combat
He told me about the NATO manoeuvres he'd been on, the Balkan skirmishes --- `Fabulous stuff! RESCUING ROSE
That was just a minor skirmish though. Times, Sunday Times
The crowning moment of my skirmishes with style was when I went out in a maroon sweatshirt on impulse and wasn't laughed at in the street.
While "bivouacking" a little behind this hill the enemy's skirmishers a little after dark made quite a determined onset on our Reminiscences of a soldier of the Orphan brigade,
In the past few months, despite frequent skirmishes, they had settled into an amicability that had been surprising. Shadow Princess
Nigeria's history is tainted with the blood of its citizens in everything from civil strife to military coups to ethnic skirmishes among the country's 200-or-so tribes.
Minor skirmishes broke out all along the border.
They might well prevail in any skirmish with the local forces, but in the circumstances that would be of little profit.
Troop selections: Light - medium infantry, assault infantry, pikemen, bowmen, light - medium melee and skirmisher cavalry.
Unfortunately, the 7th Armoured proved incapable of wresting Point 175 from the numerically inferior Ariete, and the South Africans debouched on to the Trigh Capuzzo seven miles further west, only to fall back after a single skirmish. Sealing Their Fate
In addition to skirmishing with German patrols, the group destroyed a bridge north of Graignes to interrupt one German route to the fighting.
Did you opt for a few preliminary skirmishes to test out the ability of your conker to achieve the all important swing/force ratio, or did you immediately challenge the owner of the champion conker in the hope of immediate glory.
Brennan did the needful and so no one lost face in this domestic skirmish.
A whistle sounded ahead, calling the skirmishers back to the British battalion's other nine companies. Sharpe's Prey
Thence he made his way, with the kitten skirmishing along beside him in the grass, to a staircase that led to a lump of projecting rock that enfiladed the huge green majesty of the Horseshoe Fall. The War in the Air
He did not hesitate to skirmish with the Confederates now, for his position was a strong one.
Standard Life is still capable of winning the war but in the early conflict it has lost a skirmish.
They have wounded in all of our men in 3 days skirmish about 8 or 9, one or two mortally, which is not half the number that we have killed for them besides wounded. The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn
When cavalry is required to charge over unknown ground, it should be preceded by a few men thrown out to the front as skirmishers, in order to _scout the ground_ to be passed over. A Treatise on the Tactical Use of the Three Arms: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry
Classic tribal warfare emphasizes raids, ambushes and skirmishes - attacks followed by withdrawals, without holding ground.
This turned a diversionary skirmish into the main theatre of war.
There is a fearless advance, and your skirmishers are your forlorn hope. Battle Studies
It came only after yet another procedural skirmish about the agenda and the debate was quite chaotic and confusing.
When I'm called unprintable names merely for expressing my skepticism about the relevance of Darwin's theory to the practice of medicine, I've already won the 'ethos' and 'pathos' skirmishes. Evolution News & Views
My true inner-killer combatant was revealed as I underwent a personalized warrior assessment from the chief physician of Spike TV's "Deadliest Warrior," the show where civilization's most skilled military fighters are pitted against one another to determine last warrior standing: Vikings clash with samurais; Green Berets skirmish Spetsnaz; Maoris collide with Shaolin monks. Harmon Leon: Finding My Inner Killer
There, induing their uniforms, and training their horses, all of which were yet to be shod, they brushed about the country, and skirmished with guerrillas, until going into camp for thorough drill preparatory to active service. The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 75, January, 1864
Border skirmishes between India and Pakistan were common.
Over a career involving many dozens of battles, sieges, and skirmishes, Cromwell was beaten once: at Clonmel in May 1650, when he walked into a trap laid by Hugh O'Neill.
One of the incidental sideshows to the political skirmishes of the week has been the behaviour of the press.
The 2d Rhode Island, which was at the head of the column, was now ordered to send out skirmishers; also the carbineer company, Captain History of Company F, 1st Regiment, R.I. Volunteers, during the Spring and Summer of 1861
It was evidently twittingly said to encourage the volunteers, whom they held in no very high esteem, for at that time their rear skirmishers were actually engaged. Behind AotW
Tribal forces specialize in raids, skirmishes, and ambushes where the assault rifle, machinegun, mortar, and mine are basic weapons.
But by early summer, Chicago's hotel workers were skirmishing on the job.
Thus begins another skirmish in Devinsky's long-standing war on the fecklessness of youth, their natural tendency to forget their medication, stay up all night working on a term paper and propel themselves into a hypernormal state by swilling vodka or cough medicine. In the Grip of the Unknown
The early skirmishes of the campaign in Brisbane will be of paramount importance. Times, Sunday Times
Armed gangs, constituents of rival warring factions, skirmished for control of the camps.
At which point the traditional antinomies of lyric and epic may be invoked only as skirmishers in the move from the discrete poem to the interconnected book.
Other than the budget skirmishes, there just doesn't seem to be much going on.
For three years it has been negotiating peace with Manila, all the while keeping up skirmishes against the national army.
That was just the opening skirmishes. The Sun
This is an early skirmish in a long campaign. Times, Sunday Times
Carey may have won the opening skirmish, but the Europeans aren't crying uncle yet.
The key now is to tune out the ‘white noise’ and stop fighting the daily skirmishes of the last war.
The men were interned after barely escaping a full-dress skirmish with the local gendarmes.
chasseur" style of oratory -- now skirmishing on the outskirts of an opponent's position, then rallying on some strange point, pouring in a rattling fire, standing firm against a charge, and ever displaying a perfect independence of action and a disregard of partisan drill. Perley's Reminiscences, v. 1-2 of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis
These highly mobile skirmishers can be used to draw Goblin fanatics out of their units prior to a charge by more heavily armed troops.
It was a political skirmish. Times, Sunday Times
The Marines who let me through the skirmish line filed their reports on Booth's death.
No blood flowed till February 4, 1898, when a skirmish, set off by the shot of a bullyragged American sentry, led to war. History of the United States, Volume 5 (of 6)
Yon describes a full month of bloody skirmishes in the streets of Mosul, complete with body counts.
There was some more skirmishing over the details, but finally everyone consented.
When the emperors soldiers came to reclaim the hawk, a brief skirmish ensued and the hawk was not returned.
Britain's class war had been a brief, bloodless skirmish.
There will be a couple of minor skirmishes at the end of chapter four, where the hero learns humility. Times, Sunday Times
Sorry to open up in such jaded fashion; your report does seem to signify a decent sized skirmish has taken place and I ought to show more interest. toco Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister?
In the latest skirmish, some brave defenders of free speech have done a sudden volte-face and cheered the banning of minarets in Switzerland. Archive 2009-12-01
Brighton is going to be the first skirmish in a long fight. Times, Sunday Times
Fix the enemy in place using skirmishes, artillery, feints, and demonstrations while probing his lines.
We have a second skirmish prepared, in which, once again, you can listen and choose between two related Fab Four deception records tooled to cash in on that whole British Invasion "fad," this time released on the cheapjack Diplomat label. Boing Boing
The trio lost the skirmish concerning Grand Boulevard property interests, but the war may not be over.
My goal is to find something in remotely similar scale – robots, retro sf themed .. and make a skirmish game out of these figures. Of Coups and Cowboy Hats; my Fall-IN! 2009 Travelogue « Third Point of Singularity
Some have dismissed the review as a minor skirmish when the real war lies elsewhere. Times, Sunday Times
These highly mobile skirmishers can be used to draw Goblin fanatics out of their units prior to a charge by more heavily armed troops.
Besides the loss which he sustained on the night of the 23d ultimo, which is estimated at 400, he cannot have suffered less between that period and the morning of the 18th instant than 3000; having, within that time, been repulsed in two general attempts to drive us from our position, and there having been continual cannonading and skirmishing during the whole of it. The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876
Troop selections: Light - medium infantry, assault infantry, pikemen, bowmen, light - medium melee and skirmisher cavalry.
What happened was that the havildar-major came along the rank, with two naiks carrying big bags of cartridges, of which he offered three to each skirmisher. Fiancée
In fairness to the players, they had been given no opportunity to practise under lights in the dark before the opening skirmishes. Times, Sunday Times
His regiment, rested after the defeat at Corunna and restored by almost four years of home duty, was billeted in a town near Palencia; he, wounded in some minor skirmish, in the home of a local grandee.
He even won a number of skirmishes with Dr. Samuel Johnson, the great English lexicographer, poet, and critic, who sneered at American words as "barbarisms" and the language of the Yankees as a "dialect," then a pejorative term. VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XII No 2
And he is convinced the early skirmishes will be crucial. The Sun
Both on its advance and retreat, Jacobites fought skirmishes at Clifton, in the Eden valley.
The wise general never gives battle but on favourable ground; and until he has found it, he manoeuvres, skirmishes, and harasses the enemy.
The skirmishes are conducted with the utmost courtesy and subtlety, of course. Times, Sunday Times
They bullied us in those opening skirmishes. Times, Sunday Times
The two armies skirmished occasionally throughout the month, but no serious fighting developed.
They were involved in a skirmish with rival fans.
But minor skirmishes continued and in 1625 Charles I, having been rebuffed by the infanta of Spain, sent in an expeditionary force commanded by Sir Edward Cecil to Andalucía.
Building on the tactics of skirmishers, open-order tactics possessed only loose tactical formations.
There was a short skirmish with enemy cavalry near Taliaferro's Mill, but they quickly retired.
It's not a full-blown ding-dong, but a mid-level verbal skirmish, the sort of thing that lies behind many a loving relationship.
February 1207, Henry marries Agnes, daughter of Boniface of Montferrat. Summer, Boniface is killed in a skirmish with Bulgars.
Who would have bet on Mjallby being the one on the seat of his shorts trackside after an unlikely skirmish between David and Goliath?
In their eagerness to surpass their rivals, friendly competition between fire companies deteriorated into daily skirmishes and riots between gangs of dandies and rowdies.
He was killed in a border skirmish.
During this sitting there were little skirmishes between the family and the painter, who had the audacity to call pere Vervelle witty. Pierre Grassou
Just one skirmish has ignited visceral instincts that I thought had disappeared long ago. Times, Sunday Times
Even the minor skirmishes are elusive, and the surprisingly low casualty figures for the Whites, as the anti-Bolshevik forces came to be known, suggest there were very few pitched battles: most of the devastation was wreaked on the hapless civilian populations caught in the proximity to the two armies. Deathride
Here are two people out of their neighborhood, among the uptown rich, away from their comfort zone… so they bond, in spite of their little skirmish.
While the ladies in the tea-room of the Fox Hotel were engaged in the light snappish velitation, or skirmish, which we have described, the gentlemen who remained in the parlour were more than once like to have quarrelled more seriously. Saint Ronan's Well
Azmoth the Clever, a master at leadership and full of cunning, was the scouting and skirmishing army for the One.
Other privileges soon followed, along with a few military skirmishes. World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity
No, this won't be a naval skirmish with some oppressive foreign dictator.
Nobody close to what happened said it was anything other than a minor skirmish. Times, Sunday Times

How To Use Skirmish In A Sentence

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