Scrimmage

Noun

 * 1) A rough fight.
 * 2) In some team sports, especially soccer, a practice game which does not count on a team's record.
 * 3) In American football or Canadian football, a play that begins with a snap from the center while opposing teams are on either side of a line of scrimmage.

Synonyms

 * See also Thesaurus:fight

Verb

 * 1) To have, or be involved in, a scrimmage.
 * We scrimmaged a few times and then settled into boring drills.

Thesaurus
action, aerial combat, affray, armored combat, battle, battle royal, brawl, broil, brouhaha, brush, bullfight, clash, clash of arms, cockfight, combat, conflict, disturbance, dogfight, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, embroilment, exchange of blows, fight, fire fight, fracas, fray, free-for-all, ground combat, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, house-to-house combat, knock-down-and-drag-out, melee, naval combat, passage of arms, pitched battle, quarrel, riot, row, ruckus, ruction, rumble, rumpus, running fight, scramble, scrap, scuffle, set-to, shoving match, skirmish, stand-up fight, street fight, struggle, tauromachy, tug-of-war, tussle

Etymology
A corruption of skirmish:.