Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A going to a holm to engage in mortal combat; the duel then fought.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A holm-gang or duel was then arranged; that is, a ring was marked out with stones; the combatants stepped within it, and he who could drive his antagonist outside of the stone ring was declared to be the victor.

    Boyhood in Norway 1892

  • So they fought a duel on a _holm_ or island, that nobody might interfere -- holm-gang they called it -- and

    Essays in Little Andrew Lang 1878

  • A holm-gang or duel was then arranged; that is, a ring was marked out with stones; the combatants stepped within it, and he who could drive his antagonist outside of the stone ring was declared to be the victor.

    Boyhood in Norway Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen 1871

  • It was the custom there, as it is sometimes here, if two strove for anything, to settle the matter by holm-gang.

    Erling the Bold 1859

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