sciamachy \sahy-AM-uh-kee\,
noun:
an act or instance of fighting a shadow or an imaginary enemy.
No, our man walks out of choice, and walks because only on foot can he engage in the sciamachy essential to his trade: fencing with the shadows of hat brims, gun muzzles and arms flung across brickwork by the beams of Kliegs.
-- Will Self, "Walking to Hollywood: Memories of Before the Fall," 2010
It further tends to leave the self in disarray, without an orientation. And it risks remaining wastefully engaged in psychological sciamachy – a struggle with shadows or imaginary enemies.
-- Eric Sigg, "The American T.S. Eliot: A Study of the Early Writings," 1989
Sciamachy is derived from the Greek skiamakhia, which translates literally to "fighting in the shade," giving name to the practice in ancient Greece of instructors teaching in shaded public places, such as porches and groves.
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