| Noun | 1. | first battle of Ypres - battle in World War I (1914); heavy but indecisive fighting as the Allies and the Germans both tried to break through the lines of the otherspitched battle - a fierce battle fought in close combat between troops in predetermined positions at a chosen time and place First World War, Great War, War to End War, World War 1, World War I - a war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918 | |