battle of ypres meaning and definition

BATTLE OF YPRES noun

Definition of battle of Ypres (noun)

1. battle in World War I (1917); an Allied offensive which eventually failed because tanks bogged down in the waterlogged soil of Flanders; Germans introduced mustard gas which interfered with the Allied artillery
   • synonyms: third battle of Ypres, Ypres
2. battle in World War I (1915); Germans wanted to try chlorine (a toxic yellow gas) as a weapon and succeeded in taking considerable territory from the Allied salient
   • synonyms: second battle of Ypres, Ypres
3. 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 others
   • synonyms: first battle of Ypres, Ypres