battle (all the foll. are now obs. or archaic)
1.
single combat
R2 I. i. 92
“I . . .will in battle
prove”
. . .
2.
body or line of
troops in battle array 1H4 IV. i.
129; fig.
Ven. 619
“battle . . . of bristly
pikes”
(on a boar's back).
3.
main body of an armed
force
R3 V. iii. 300
“the main
battle,”
Mac. V. vi. 4
“Lead our first
battle.”