armed conflict vs melee

armed conflict

noun
  • A contested incompatibility that entails the use of armed force between two parties including a territory, the government of a state, or both. 

melee

noun
  • A loud, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap. 

  • A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume. 

  • Lively contention or debate, skirmish. 

  • A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling. 

  • Any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation. 

  • Small cut and polished gemstones sold in lots. 

adj
  • Of a weapon: used in close-range combat. 

verb
  • To physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon. 

How often have the words armed conflict and melee occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )