flyting

English

Etymology

From Middle English fliting, flytyng, equivalent to flyte +‎ -ing.

Noun

flyting (plural flytings)

1. Contention, noisy argument.
2. Scolding, rebuke.
3. A poetic contest of insults or invective.
   • 2007, Marina Warner, “Doubly Damned”, in London Review of Books, 29:3, p. 26:

     Rival poets in Scotland exchanged flytings that were packed with riddling conceits.

   • 1898, George Saintsbury, A Short History of English Literature:

     These "flytings" consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants.