From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Affray \Af*fray"\, v. t. [p. p. {Affrayed}.] [OE. afraien,
affraien, OF. effreer, esfreer, F. effrayer, orig. to
disquiet, put out of peace, fr. L. ex + OHG. fridu peace
(akin to E. free). Cf. {Afraid}, {Fray}, {Frith} inclosure.]
[Archaic]
1. To startle from quiet; to alarm.
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Smale foules a great heap
That had afrayed [affrayed] me out of my sleep.
--Chaucer.
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2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away.
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That voice doth us affray. --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Affray \Af*fray"\, n. [OE. afrai, affrai, OF. esfrei, F. effroi,
fr. OF. esfreer. See {Affray}, v. t.]
1. The act of suddenly disturbing any one; an assault or
attack. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
2. Alarm; terror; fright. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. "In the
very midst of the affray." --Motley.
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4. (Law) The fighting of two or more persons, in a public
place, to the terror of others. --Blackstone.
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Note: A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an
affray.
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Syn: Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest;
feud; tumult; disturbance.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
affray
n 1: noisy quarrel [syn: {affray}, {altercation}, {fracas}]
2: a noisy fight [syn: {affray}, {disturbance}, {fray},
{ruffle}]
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