duel

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

▪ I. duel [duel duels duelled dueled duelling dueling] BrE [ˈdjuːəl] NAmE [ˈduːəl] noun
1. a formal fight with weapons between two people, used in the past to settle a disagreement, especially over a matter of honour
•to fight/win a duel
•to challenge sb to a duel
2. a competition or struggle between two people or groups
•a verbal duel

Word Origin:
late 15th cent.: from Latin duellum, archaic and literary form of bellum ‘war’, used in medieval Latin with the meaning ‘combat between two persons’, partly influenced by dualis ‘of two’. The original sense was ‘single combat used to decide a judicial dispute’; the sense ‘contest to decide a point of honour’ dates from the early 17th cent.

Example Bank:
•He fought a duel with the prince.
•a duel between the two officers
•The debate rapidly descended into a verbal duel between the two candidates.
 
▪ II. duel verb (-ll-, US -l-)intransitive
•The two men duelled to the death.
Main entry: ↑duel_derived