medley
Americannoun
plural
medleys-
a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble.
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a piece of music combining tunes or passages from various sources.
a medley of hit songs from Broadway shows.
adjective
noun
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a mixture of various types or elements
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a musical composition consisting of various tunes arranged as a continuous whole
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Also called: medley relay.
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swimming a race in which a different stroke is used for each length
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athletics a relay race in which each leg has a different distance
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an archaic word for melee
adjective
Etymology
Origin of medley
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun and adjective medle(e), medlei(e), maedlai(e) “battle, war, quarrel; mixture, balanced mixture,” from Anglo-French, Old French medlee, mellee, noun and adjective use of feminine of past participle of medler “to mix, fight”; meddle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There were unmistakable echoes of his old group in the whirlwind medley of the title track and the honey-dripping ballad “Bluebird.”
An almost aggressively spiced medley: Italian breadcrumbs, Old Bay, thyme, oregano, garlic powder; a pantry symphony that bordered on excessive in the way only a ’90s “healthy” recipe could.
From Salon
White wine is added to the clams and the medley of cooked vegetables before the cream is poured in.
From Salon
Jelly of the Month Club hits every beat and chord with precision, with arrangements of songs and medleys that bring together the power of rock’s past with the whimsy of “Peanuts.”
From Los Angeles Times
The 21-year-old produced a stunning performance while competing to a medley from "The Lost Crown" video game, scoring 108.16 points to put him in pole position going into Friday's free skating final.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
