skirmish

v. dispute, squabble, argue; fight a minor battle, engage in a scrimmage

n. dispute, squabble, spat; minor battle, minor fight, clash

Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from similar attacks by the enemy. Skirmishers are generally lightly armoured for increased battlefield mobility and are usually armed with missile weapons to attack the enemy from a great distance.
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Noun
1. a minor short-term fight
(synonym) brush, clash, encounter
(hypernym) fight, fighting, combat, scrap
(hyponym) contretemps
Verb
1. engage in a skirmish
(hypernym) fight, struggle
(derivation) skirmisher

(v. i.)
To fight slightly or in small parties; to engage in a skirmish or skirmishes; to act as skirmishers.
  

(v. i.)
A slight fight in war; a light or desultory combat between detachments from armies, or between detached and small bodies of troops.
  

(v. i.)
A slight contest.
  

Synonyms and related words:
action, aerial combat, affray, ambush, armored combat, assault, attack, battle, battle royal, box, brawl, broil, brush, bullfight, clash, clash of arms, close, cockfight, collide, combat, come to blows, conflict, confrontation, contend, contest, cut and thrust, dogfight, duel, embroilment, encounter, engagement, exchange blows, exchange of blows, fence, feud, fight, fight a duel, fire fight, fracas, fray, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple, grapple with, ground combat, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, house-to-house combat, jostle, joust, melee, mix it up, naval combat, passage of arms, pitched battle, quarrel, rassle, riot, rumble, run a tilt, run-in, running fight, scramble, scrap, scrimmage, scuffle, set-to, shoving match, showdown, spar, stand-up fight, street fight, strive, struggle, tauromachy, thrust and parry, tilt, tourney, tug-of-war, tussle, wage war, war, wrestle