battle

thumb|upright=1.35|British Army|British (red) and French (blue) armies begin engagement of the decisive [[Battle of Waterloo, with Prussian forces (gray) arriving from the northeast |alt=Overhead diagram of movement of forces at Battle of Waterloo]] According to one of the possible definitions, a battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a series of military engagements that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish.

The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and the Battle of France, all in World War II.