Definition

To scuffle means to engage in a brief, disorderly, and often physical fight or struggle. It can also refer to the sound or movement of feet shuffling or dragging along a surface.

Pronunciation

US English

UK English


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Excerpts from News Articles

A brawl between troops from the two sides in December -- what the Indian government characterized as a "physical scuffle " -- was "part of the steady drumbeat of China building its military presence, asserting its control over disputed areas, and probing Indian defenses," Tarapore said.

Logo 2023-02-17 CNN News

In December last year, troops from the two sides engaged in scuffles in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.

Logo 2023-04-04 Reuters

Fans at Goodison Park chanted that Kane was a "cheater" after his scuffle with Abdoulaye Doucoure led to the midfielder's red card in the 58th minute. Kane had grabbed the shirt of the Mali international, who reacted by swatting the England captain in the face. Kane then collapsed to the ground in apparent agony.

Logo 2023-04-04 Channel NewsAsia

On Wednesday afternoon, scuffles occurred outside the University of Economics (ASOEE), on Patission Street in central Athens. A group of about 35 people placed bins in the street as barricades and set fire to some of them.

Logo 2023-04-07 CGTN

In December last year, troops from the two sides engaged in scuffles in the state's Tawang sector, and last week India rejected the renaming by China of 11 places, including five mountains, in Arunachal Pradesh.

Logo 2023-04-10 Reuters

The gas stoves scuffle could seem tame compared with an all-out feud over what’s in tens of millions of Americans’ driveways. The Obama administration took a GOP strafing over policies aimed at getting people out of their cars in favor of bikes, walking and transit — outrage that kept the conservative blogosphere buzzing for months.

Logo 2023-04-12 Politico

Youths scuffle with police forces in front of the Paris townhall during a demonstration in Paris.

Logo 2023-04-13 EURO News

CNN teams on the ground witnessed protesters engaging in intense scuffles with police as smoke bombs, projectiles and tear gas were fired, before a group set off red flares outside the court building.

Logo 2023-04-13 CNN News

Youths scuffle with police forces in front of the Paris townhall during a demonstration, Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Paris. AP Photo

Logo 2023-04-14 EURO News

The resulting panic was captured on video, showing police officers scuffling with a suspect on the ground as they attempted to subdue him. Bystanders were also seen fleeing in all directions amid the confusion.

Logo 2023-04-15 RT News

A similar anti-government demonstration was held last month. More than a dozen people were arrested and scuffles with police broke out at that event.

Logo 2023-04-17 RT News

A memo filed by Bragg’s office when the plea offers were made described mitigating factors related to the two who got breaks. The woman who got time served, for example, may not have known her brother stabbed Correa nine times during the scuffle when she participated in the assault, the memo said.

Logo 2023-04-17 The Washington Post

Eunice Day’s breaking point came when her neighbours asked if she would move her car from a communal grass verge in their cul-de-sac so that it could be mowed. After several weeks of polite hostilities, Day stormed a neighbour’s home in the Dorset town of Ferndown, a row ensued, and the resulting scuffle left the 81-year-old in court charged with assault.

Logo 2023-04-17 The Spectator

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson showed Pezzola a photograph of police officers scuffling with rioters storming the Capitol. The prosecutor asked Pezzola if he and the rest of the crowd were acting as an “invading force.”

Logo 2023-04-20 Associated Press

In March 2022, Bobby Barrick was in McCurtain County visiting friends and family, according to Barrick's lawyer. He was dropped off at a corner store and got into a scuffle with contractors that led to his being hogtied by a group the lawsuit called a "vigilante crowd."

Logo 2023-04-21 MSNBC News

The couple threw punches at Ong until staff and attendees of the event intervened and separated the group. The scuffle was caught on a video which was later circulated on social media.

Logo 2023-04-22 Channel NewsAsia

That is why, in all past scuffles over government borrowing, Congress ended up raising or suspending the debt ceiling. And while markets are betting on yet another fix, that confidence is starting to crack. The cost of insuring against a government default, as measured by credit-default swaps on Treasury bonds, has climbed to the highest level in more than a decade.

Logo 2023-04-25 Reuters

Protesters shouted at one of the more extreme members of the government, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, when he spoke at a military cemetery, and scuffles broke out between mourners. Other government ministers also faced smaller disruptions, and a few chose not to speak at all on Memorial Day rather than give demonstrators a chance to make scenes.

Logo 2023-04-26 CNN News

Recent efforts by the GOP-controlled Oklahoma Legislature to prohibit gender-affirming medical care for trans children and pass other anti-trans legislation have led to demonstrations at the Capitol. One protest in March became heated when a protester was accused of pouring water on a state representative and scuffling with a trooper before being arrested.

Logo 2023-04-26 Associated Press

The ad was just the latest instance of AI blurring the line between real and make believe. In the past few weeks, fake images of former President Donald Trump scuffling with police went viral. So did an AI-generated picture of Pope Francis wearing a stylish puffy coat and a fake song using cloned voices of pop stars Drake and The Weeknd.

Logo 2023-04-27 NPR

One could argue the mishap is straight out of “The Diplomat” itself, in which Russell’s title character, while competent at her work in the Foreign Service, is always a bit out of sorts. She gets into a physical scuffle outdoors just moments before meeting the president, whom she greets slightly out of breath and with dirt on her face. Later, she discovers a yogurt stain on her clothes as she gets ready to walk into the Oval Office. Losing her voice wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Listen, life happens.

Logo 2023-04-27 The Washington Post

Episodes bore titles like “Threesomes With Grandma” and “I Married a Horse,” which some TV stations passed on because of its discussions of interspecies relationships. Another episode, “Klanfrontation!,” devolved into scuffling between Irv Rubin, the chairman of the Jewish Defense League, and several white-cloaked Ku Klux Klan members.

Logo 2023-04-27 The Washington Post

Videos of the scuffle that circulated on social media showed police officers struggling to shove the lawmakers, who were all dressed in black attire, into a van.

Logo 2023-04-27 Reuters

He testified that he saw Sams being escorted out of the party and then getting into a “ scuffle ” with Brown near the front entrance, but he did not see Sams with a gun or see him shoot Brown.

Logo 2023-04-28 The Washington Post

Documents said Ms Coleman then scuffled with other officers — allegedly biting one agent, punching and elbowing another in the head, and grabbing the ponytail of a third. Phoenix police were called to the scene and took Ms Coleman into custody.

Logo 2023-04-28 The Independent

The deadlock briefly prompted a scuffle on the chamber floor as opposition legislators unfurled banners at the Senate podium calling for immediate appointments to INAI. The Associated Press reported that Morena Senator César Cravioto was seen slapping away hands in an attempt to wrestle the banners away.

Logo 2023-04-29 Al Jazeera

Hopes of a repeat of 2022, when there were minimal arrests and violence in Germany, were given a boost after police said the traditional Walpurgis Night celebrations that precede the Labour Day demos went off with only minor scuffles and some fireworks thrown.

Logo 2023-05-01 CGTN

In Udine, there were post-match scuffles as Napoli fans ran onto the stadium pitch to celebrate with players, but were met by hostile home supporters armed with belts and batons, the ANSA news agency said.

Logo 2023-05-05 Channel NewsAsia

Ukrainian delegates also scuffled with security officers in Ankara who tried to pull them away as they staged a protest against Russian officials.

Logo 2023-05-05 Al Jazeera

Earlier in the day, some Ukrainian delegates scuffled with security officers who had tried to pull them away as they staged a protest, shouting and holding their flags next to Russia's lead delegate as she tried to address the assembly.

Logo 2023-05-05 Reuters

Ukrainian and Russian delegates have had to be separated after a scuffle during a meeting of Black Sea countries in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Logo 2023-05-05 MSNBC News