Melee

Melée generally means hand-to-hand combat or mano-a-mano. Weapons commonly used in melée include swords, clubs, spears, axes, or fists: almost anything you can hit someone with. The word melée is specific to disorganized hand-to-hand battles.

By extension, melée can also refer to a naval or armor battle at abnormally close range, and even to disorganized crowds of people, and traffic jams.

Usage of this word has increased in the general population due to its presence in computer gaming including the first person shooter genre. In general, a melée attack will only hit its target when at extremely close range. It uses no ammunition, and to create game balance, these attacks may be faster or more powerful. Due to the difficulty of approaching and attacking an opponent at extremely close range, a successful melée attack is often considered elegant or skillful.

Also in computer gaming, melée can be used as a short form of the name for the Nintendo GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Melée is also used in the diamond industry to describe small cut gem diamonds.