joust 1 of 2

verb

Definition of joustnext
as in to fight
of knights in the Middle Ages to engage in battle on horseback with lances The knights jousted against each other.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

joust

2 of 2

noun

as in duel

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of joust
Verb
The candidates have jousted recently after a public poll by Quinnipiac University poll showed Lamont ahead by 17 percentage points and another survey by Sacred Heart University placed Lamont ahead by 14 points. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 23 Sep. 2026 Niners are going from clobbering the preseason Super Bowl favorite to facing a team jousting with Cleveland for consensus worst in the league. — Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
Noun
During jousts, Bruce targets the head, wings, beak and legs of his opponents in close contact without making physical contact with them. — Grrlscientist, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2026 Attending a joust is one of the quintessential renaissance festival experiences. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for joust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for joust
  1. fight
  2. duel
  3. battle
  4. confrontation
  5. wrestle
  6. face-off
  7. fistfight
  8. slugfest
Verb
  • For now, Smith and her team are on the road as the Valkyries fight to take home the WNBA Championship Trophy.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • My school years passed in a sliding door moment, and all there was to behold in that frame was a young man who had to physically fight to be allowed to be someone else—himself.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of fight
Noun
  • When an ingenious serial killer begins murdering Minneapolis citizens, Davenport, a brilliant polymath and unconventional investigator, takes the case, sparking an intense psychological duel with an equally intelligent adversary.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Snell opened the seventh by walking Andrew Vaughn and losing an 11-pitch duel to Bauers, who won the battle with a two-run homer.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of duel
Verb
  • The fire broke out at the Eagle’s Nest in the Bavarian Alps on Friday evening, and firefighters battled the flames against strong winds.
    — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Republicans are battling to keep their top-of-the-ticket foothold in a state that will, once more, stand at the center of the presidential campaign.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of battle
Noun
  • Iran and Saudi Arabia represent competing religious ideologies and have been locked in a regional rivalry for decades, culminating in an outright confrontation earlier this year after the US and Israel launched a war on the Islamic Republic.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Not through confrontation, but through sensitivity, through encounter and through the possibility of listening to one another.
    — Ed Meza, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of confrontation
Verb
  • The novel forces readers to wrestle with the uncomfortable fact that Chrissie would rather have two dead children than one who isn’t part of the dominant class.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Authorities said another teacher threw her phone at the attacker and then tackled him and wrestled with him for control of the weapon, likely saving lives before the shooter was shot by a father who followed him into the building.
    — Gene Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of wrestle
Noun
  • As for battery life, the MacBook Air wins most of the face-offs here, but loses to some key rivals, namely the HP Googlebook 14, by a fair margin.
    — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Despite pledging to participate in multiple debates, Becerra brushed aside several invitations, agreeing to just a solitary one-hour face-off against Hilton on CNN in late September.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of face-off
Noun
  • Some puzzlers describe solving the crossword as a workout; for me, today’s was a knock-down, drag-out fistfight.
    — Sean McGowan, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Prosecutors said the two men had communicated via text and phone calls to discuss arranging a fistfight to resolve their ongoing conflict, the Brownwood News reported.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of fistfight
Noun
  • Sweden loses key piece The first half was a sloppy slugfest as both teams tried to use their physicality to assume control.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2026
  • The Republican race for governor between Rick Jackson and Burt Jones has been nothing short of a slugfest.
    — Shannon McCaffrey, AJC.com, 10 June 2026
Definition of slugfest

Browse Nearby Words

journeys
joust
jousted
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Joust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joust. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on joust

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about joust

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All