Nearby Words

Fighting

[fahy-ting] Origin

fight·ing

[fahy-ting]
adjective
1.
fit to fight: a boxer who's no longer in fighting shape.
2.
tending or meant to stir up a fight or hostility: fighting words.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English; see fight, -ing2

un·fight·ing, adjective

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Fighting is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

fight

[fahyt] noun, verb, fought, fight·ing.
noun
1.
a battle or combat.
2.
any contest or struggle: a fight for recovery from an illness.
3.
an angry argument or disagreement: Whenever we discuss politics, we end up in a fight.
4.
Boxing. a bout or contest.
5.
a game or diversion in which the participants hit or pelt each other with something harmless: a pillow fight; a water fight.
EXPAND
6.
ability, will, or inclination to fight: There was no fight left in him.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
7.
to engage in battle or in single combat; attempt to defend oneself against or to subdue, defeat, or destroy an adversary.
8.
to contend in any manner; strive vigorously for or against something: He fought bravely against despair.
verb (used with object)
9.
to contend with in battle or combat; war against: England fought Germany.
10.
to contend with or against in any manner: to fight despair; to fight the passage of a bill.
11.
to carry on (a battle, duel, etc.).
12.
to maintain (a cause, quarrel, etc.) by fighting or contending.
13.
to make (one's way) by fighting or striving.
EXPAND
14.
to cause or set (a boxer, animal, etc.) to fight.
15.
to manage or maneuver (troops, ships, guns, planes, etc.) in battle.
COLLAPSE
16.
fight it out, to fight until a decision is reached: Let them fight it out among themselves.
17.
fight shy of. shy1 (def. 12).
18.
fight with windmills. tilt1 (def. 17).

Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English fi(g)hten, Old English fe(o)htan (cognate with German fechten); (noun) Middle English fi(g)ht, Old English feohte, (ge)feoht, derivative of the v. base

fight·a·ble, adjective
fight·a·bil·i·ty, noun
fight·ing·ly, adverb
out·fight, verb (used with object), -fought, -fight·ing.
pre·fight, adjective
EXPAND
re·fight, verb, -fought, -fight·ing.
un·fight·a·ble, adjective
COLLAPSE


1, 2. encounter, engagement, affray, fray, action, skirmish, melee; scuffle, tussle, row, riot. Fight, combat, conflict, contest denote a struggle of some kind. Fight connotes a hand-to-hand struggle for supremacy, literally or in a figurative sense. Combat suggests an armed encounter, to settle a dispute. Conflict implies a bodily, mental, or moral struggle caused by opposing views, beliefs, etc. Contest applies to either a friendly or a hostile struggle for a definite prize or aim.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Fighting
Collins
World English Dictionary
fight (faɪt)
 
vb (when intr often foll by for) , fights, fighting, fought
1.  to oppose or struggle against (an enemy) in battle
2.  to oppose or struggle against (a person, thing, cause, etc) in any manner
3.  (tr) to engage in or carry on (a battle, contest, etc)
4.  to uphold or maintain (a cause, ideal, etc) by fighting or struggling: to fight for freedom
5.  (tr) to make or achieve (a way) by fighting
6.  (intr) boxing
 a.  to box, as for a living
 b.  to use aggressive rough tactics
7.  to engage (another or others) in combat
8.  fight it out to contend or struggle until a decisive result is obtained
9.  fight shy of to keep aloof from
 
n
10.  a battle, struggle, or physical combat
11.  a quarrel, dispute, or contest
12.  resistance (esp in the phrase to put up a fight)
13.  the desire to take part in physical combat (esp in the phrase to show fight)
14.  a boxing match
 
[Old English feohtan; related to Old Frisian fiuchta, Old Saxon, Old High German fehtan to fight]
 
'fighting
 
n, —adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fight
O.E. feohtan "to fight" (class III strong verb; past tense feaht, pp. fohten), from P.Gmc. *fekhtanan (cf. O.H.G. fehtan, Du. vechten, O.Fris. fiuhta), from PIE *pek- "to pluck out" (wool or hair), apparently with a notion of "pulling roughly." Spelling substitution of -gh- for a "hard H" sound was
EXPAND
a M.E. scribal habit, especially before -t-. In some late O.E. examples, the middle consonant was represented by a yogh. Related: Fighting. The noun is from O.E. feohte, gefeoht.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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