dogfight

/ˈdɒɡfaɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈdɔːɡfaɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈdȯg-ˌfīt/ (ame, mw)

dogfight — noun

  • dogfightsingular
  • dogfightsplural

1. a secretly arranged match in which two dogs are forced to attack each other whil

1.名詞B1
釋義

a secretly arranged match in which two dogs are forced to attack each other while people watch and gamble on the outcome

例句

Police raided the warehouse and found an organized dogfight taking place in the basement.

collocation: organized dogfight

Kabir was sentenced to prison for hosting a dogfight behind his farm.

同義詞
  • animal baiting

    broader term covering any staged animal combat; less specific to dogs

  • canine combat

    more formal and detached; used mainly in legal or veterinary contexts

文法句型

a dogfight

dogfights

organize a dogfight

用法筆記

Frequently appears in news reports about illegal animal fighting rings. The term carries a strong negative moral judgment — it is never used neutrally to describe pet dogs play-fighting.

常見錯誤

❌Two dogs started a dogfight in the park.
✅Two dogs started a fight in the park.
💡'dogfight' implies an organized, illegal event, not a casual scuffle between pets.

2. a close-quarters battle among fighter planes, where pilots swerve and descend ra

2.名詞B2
釋義

a close-quarters battle among fighter planes, where pilots swerve and descend rapidly in an effort to shoot each other out of the sky

例句

The two fighter jets engaged in a brief dogfight before one of them broke away.

collocation: engage in a dogfight

Lucía watched a documentary about World War Two pilots who survived dogfights over France.

同義詞

文法句型

a dogfight

in a dogfight

engage in a dogfight

用法筆記

Common in military history and aviation writing. In modern warfare, a dogfight implies visual-range combat as opposed to beyond-visual-range missile exchanges.

常見錯誤

❌The two planes were in a dogfight from ten miles away.
✅The two planes were in a dogfight at close range, banking around each other.
💡A dogfight is a close-quarters battle, not a long-distance engagement.

3. an extremely competitive situation in which two people, teams, or companies stru

3.名詞B2
釋義

an extremely competitive situation in which two people, teams, or companies struggle hard to defeat each other — for example, a close election fight or a price war between rival businesses

例句

The election turned into a bitter dogfight between the two candidates.

collocation: bitter dogfight

Hoa's startup entered a dogfight with a larger rival over market control.

同義詞
  • battle

    more general; can be physical or metaphorical without the aviation imagery

  • struggle

    emphasizes difficulty; less aggressive in tone than dogfight

  • turf war

    more specific to territory or control disputes

反義詞
  • cooperation

    dogfight implies conflict; cooperation is the collaborative opposite

  • truce

    a temporary halt to fighting

文法句型

a dogfight

turn into a dogfight

a dogfight for something

用法筆記

The imagery emphasizes a messy, back-and-forth struggle rather than a one-sided victory. Most common in sports, business, and political reporting.

常見錯誤

❌The chess match was a dogfight from the first move.
✅The basketball final was a real dogfight, with neither team able to pull ahead.
💡'Dogfight' suits fast, physical, back-and-forth contests better than slow, methodical games.