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a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces:
the battle of Waterloo.
participation in such hostile encounters or engagements:
wounds received in battle.
a fight between two persons or animals:
ordering a trial by battle to settle the dispute.
any conflict or struggle:
a battle for control of the Senate.
Archaic. a battalion.
to engage in battle:
ready to battle with the enemy.
to work very hard or struggle; strive:
to battle for freedom.
to fight (a person, army, cause, etc.):
We battled strong winds and heavy rains in our small boat.
to force or accomplish by fighting, struggling, etc.:
He battled his way to the top of his profession.
give / do battle, to enter into conflict; fight:
He was ready to do battle for his beliefs.
Historical Examples

He shot up his right and it pounded into the battler’s ribs.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

He felt the battler’s strength in that clinch and he realized it was more than his.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

His body reeled as the battler pounded him, his head, his face, his back.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

I, despite my birth and lineage, am a battler for the truth.
The Arena Various

The battler swayed far to the right, the glove of his right hand almost touching the floor.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

The fellow with the canker at his heart is not the battler but the envious shirker who is too “proud” to risk a fall.
If You Don’t Write Fiction Charles Phelps Cushing

They carried him to his corner, the battler on one side, the referee on the other.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

His fist struck only the air and the battler, his lips drawn back, his eyes blazing, crashed into him.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

The battler feinted, swaying his body from side to side, and came at him.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

He rushed and saw a look of surprise cross the battler’s face as he dodged to one side.
Spring Street James H. Richardson

noun
a fight between large armed forces; military or naval engagement; combat
conflict; contention; struggle: his battle for recognition
do battle, give battle, join battle, to start fighting
verb
when intr, often foll by against, for, or with. to fight in or as if in military combat; contend (with): she battled against cancer
to struggle in order to achieve something or arrive somewhere: he battled through the crowd
(intransitive) (Austral) to scrape a living, esp by doing odd jobs
noun
a town in SE England, in East Sussex: site of the Battle of Hastings (1066); medieval abbey. Pop: 5190 (2001)
noun
Kathleen. born 1948, US opera singer: a coloratura soprano, she made her professional debut in 1972 and sang with New York City’s Metropolitan Opera (1977–94)
n.

c.1300, from Old French bataille “battle, single combat,” also “inner turmoil, harsh circumstances; army, body of soldiers,” from Late Latin battualia “exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing,” from Latin battuere “to beat, to strike” (see batter (v.)). Phrase battle royal “fight involving several combatants” is from 1670s.
v.

early 14c., “to fight,” from French batailler (12c.), from bataille (see battle (n.)). Related: Battled; battling.
see:

half the battle
losing battle
pitched battle