Brawl, n.
A noisy quarrel; loud, angry contention; a wrangle; a tumult; as, a drunken brawl. His sports were hindered by the brawls. Shak .
Syn. -- Noise; quarrel; uproar; row; tumult.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Brawl, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Brawled; p. pr. & vb. n. Brawling.]
1. To quarrel noisily and outrageously. Let a man that is a man consider that he is a fool that brawleth openly with his wife. Golden Boke.
2. To complain loudly; to scold.
3. To make a loud confused noise, as the water of a rapid stream running over stones. Where the brook brawls along the painful road. Wordsworth.
Syn. -- To wrangle; squabble; contend.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for brawl; he lists it under feud.
Where he writes about it:
Affray, brawl, and broil, like quarrel, are words of inferior dignity. — from feud
An affray or broil may arise at a street corner; the affray always involves physical force; the brawl or broil may be confined to violent language. — from feud