1
: a fight between dogs
broadly
: a fiercely disputed contest
2
: a fight between two or more fighter planes usually at close quarters
dogfight
intransitive verb
Synonyms
Examples of dogfight in a Sentence
He was shot down in a dogfight over enemy territory.
The election has turned into a real dogfight.
Recent Examples on the Web
The core of this expensive and esoteric dogfight comes down to this: should some banks have to keep more cash reserves to ward off insolvency?
—
Philip Elliott, TIME, 18 Mar. 2024
So Golden State’s 18-point win over Charlotte (18-55) Friday night was not one Curry took for granted, particularly since the Warriors (39-34) are in a dogfight for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 Mar. 2024
The question is whether the dogfight to get there strengthen them for postseason play or leaves them worn down and without the energy to make a run.
—Erick Smith, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
With Luddy and Case again headlining the matchup, both teams relied on their best players to be not just scorers, but defenders and facilitators as the first half was a defensive dogfight.
—Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 19 Jan. 2024
Russia and Ukraine will focus more on eliminating each other’s weapons and engaging in drone-to-drone dogfights.
—Eric Schmidt, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2024
After taking a 15-point first-half lead behind sizzling shooting and smothering defense, the Spartans once again found themselves in another dogfight.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 21 Jan. 2024
The timing of the saga coincidentally fell in Tusk’s first weeks, and in the wake of the clash over TVP, intensifying the dogfight between Tusk and his predecessors in power.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 27 Jan. 2024
The program's director told Knapp about the Russian warplane dogfights with UFOs.
—Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 29 July 2023
Philip Elliott, TIME, 18 Mar. 2024
So Golden State’s 18-point win over Charlotte (18-55) Friday night was not one Curry took for granted, particularly since the Warriors (39-34) are in a dogfight for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 Mar. 2024
The question is whether the dogfight to get there strengthen them for postseason play or leaves them worn down and without the energy to make a run.
—Erick Smith, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
With Luddy and Case again headlining the matchup, both teams relied on their best players to be not just scorers, but defenders and facilitators as the first half was a defensive dogfight.
—Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 19 Jan. 2024
Russia and Ukraine will focus more on eliminating each other’s weapons and engaging in drone-to-drone dogfights.
—Eric Schmidt, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2024
After taking a 15-point first-half lead behind sizzling shooting and smothering defense, the Spartans once again found themselves in another dogfight.
—Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 21 Jan. 2024
The timing of the saga coincidentally fell in Tusk’s first weeks, and in the wake of the clash over TVP, intensifying the dogfight between Tusk and his predecessors in power.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 27 Jan. 2024
The program's director told Knapp about the Russian warplane dogfights with UFOs.
—Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 29 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dogfight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Dogfight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dogfight. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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