skirmishes
n．小规模战斗，小冲突：指在战争或冲突中的小规模、短暂的战斗或冲突。
例句
Border skirmishes between India and Pakistan were common.
印巴边境的小冲突曾经是常有的事。
《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》
A handful of legal skirmishes have strengthened his hand.
一连串的法律纠纷反倒巩固了他的统治法理。
Inside Bear Stearns, though, skirmishes about its mortgage holdings at times grew heated.
然而在贝尔斯登内部，关于抵押贷款资产的冲突有时会十分激烈。
