Make Your Point > Archived Issues > MELEE

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explore the archives: The same French word meaning "mix or mingle" gave us meddle, medley, today's melee, and our recent word mél____, a beautiful synonym of medley. Can you recall it? make your point with... "MELEE" A literal melee is a brawl: an angry, confusing, hand-to-hand fight among many people. More generally, a melee is either    an angry, noisy debate among many people    or any mixed-up jumble of stuff. Pronunciation: MAY lay Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one melee or multiple melees.) Other forms: Just the plural, "melees." Some writers still include the two French marks: mêlée.  How to use it: Talk about people steering clear of a melee, setting off or instigating a melee, joining or entering the melee, relishing the melee, gaining or losing ground in the melee, settling or dispelling the melee, etc. Or, say that a melee is brewing, erupting, raging, dissipating, etc. Sometimes we add "of:" a melee of hockey players, a melee of rally attendees, a melee of brands or companies, a melee of options on Netflix. examples: I saw this hateful meme and reminded myself to just keep on scrolling--no need to enter the melee that's brewing in the comments. On her counter is a melee of makeup brushes and products; I'm itching to settle it with some bins or drawers. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "melee" means when you can explain it without saying "scuffle" or "debate." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Eagerly, reluctantly, unwittingly, etc.) I entered the melee of people trying to (do something in particular)." Example: "Reluctantly I entered the melee of people trying to exit Costco." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?" Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers. From our previous issue: Pair A: INVEST and INVESTIGATE. These are the strangers. "Invest" sounds like it means to put someone in a vest, and it kind of does! It comes from the Latin vestire, meaning "to clothe," and when we invest something (like money or energy), we're giving it a new form. But "investigate" literally means "trace out." It comes from the Latin for "footprint:" vestigium. Pair B: OVAL and OVARY. These are the cousins. We got both from the Latin ovum, "egg." Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which? Pair A: MINE and MINERAL Pair B: REIN and REINDEER review today's word: 1. The closest opposite of MELEE is A. A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE B. A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION C. A MEETING OF MINDS 2. He _____, as if he thought a melee might erupt. A. kept a sharp eye on the kids at recess B. stepped gingerly across the field C. cleaned his house obsessively Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A