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fight

  [fahyt] noun, verb, fought, fight⋅ing.
Use fight in a Sentence
–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.
6. ability, will, or inclination to fight: There was no fight left in him.
–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.
14. to cause or set (a boxer, animal, etc.) to fight.
15. to manage or maneuver (troops, ships, guns, planes, etc.) in battle.
—Idioms
16. fight it out, to fight until a decision is reached: Let them fight it out among themselves.
17. fight shy of. shy 1 (def. 12).
18. fight with windmills. tilt 1 (def. 17).
Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) ME fi(g)hten, OE fe(o)htan (c. G fechten); (n.) ME fi(g)ht, OE feohte, (ge)feoht, deriv. of the v. base

Related forms:
fight⋅a⋅ble, adjective
fight⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
fight⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
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. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fight
fight   (fīt)   
v.   fought (fôt), fight·ing, fights

v.   intr.
    1. To attempt to harm or gain power over an adversary by blows or with weapons.
    2. Sports To engage in boxing or wrestling.
  2. To engage in a quarrel; argue: They are always fighting about money.
  3. To strive vigorously and resolutely: fought against graft; fighting for her rights.
v.   tr.
    1. To contend with physically or in battle.
    2. To wage or carry on (a battle).
    3. To contend for, by or as if by combat: "I now resolved that Calais should be fought to the death" (Winston S. Churchill).
    4. Sports To box or wrestle against in a ring.
    5. To participate in (a boxing match, for example).
    1. Sports To box or wrestle against in a ring.
    2. To participate in (a boxing match, for example).
  3. To set (a boxer, for example) in combat with another. See Synonyms at oppose.
  4. To contend with or struggle against: fight cancer; fight temptation.
  5. To try to prevent the development or success of.
  6. To make (one's way) by struggle or striving: fought my way to the top.
n.  
  1. A confrontation between opposing groups in which each attempts to harm or gain power over the other, as with bodily force or weapons.
  2. A quarrel or conflict.
    1. A physical conflict between two or more individuals.
    2. Sports A boxing or wrestling match.
  4. A struggle to achieve an objective. See Synonyms at conflict.
  5. The power or inclination to fight; pugnacity: I just didn't have any fight left in me.
Phrasal Verb(s):
fight offTo defend against or drive back (a hostile force, for example).

Idiom(s):
fight fire with fireTo combat one evil or one set of negative circumstances by reacting in kind.

Idiom(s):
fight shy ofTo avoid meeting or confronting.

[Middle English fighten, from Old English feohtan, fihtan.]
fight'a·bil'i·ty n., fight'a·ble adj., fight'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fight

Fight\ (f[imac]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fought (f[add]t); p. pr. & vb. n. Fighting.] [OE. fihten, fehten, AS. feohtan; akin to D. vechten, OHG. fehtan, G. fechten, Sw. f["a]kta, Dan. fegte, and perh. to E. fist; cf. L. pugnare to fight, pugnus fist.]

1. To strive or contend for victory, with armies or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue, or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms; -- followed by with or against.

You do fight against your country's foes. --Shak.

To fight with thee no man of arms will deign. --Milton.

2. To act in opposition to anything; to struggle against; to contend; to strive; to make resistance.

To fight shy, to avoid meeting fairly or at close quarters; to keep out of reach.

Fight

Fight\, v. t. 1. To carry on, or wage, as a conflict, or battle; to win or gain by struggle, as one's way; to sustain by fighting, as a cause.

He had to fight his way through the world. --Macaulay.

I have fought a good fight. --2 Tim. iv. 7.

2. To contend with in battle; to war against; as, they fought the enemy in two pitched battles; the sloop fought the frigate for three hours.

3. To cause to fight; to manage or maneuver in a fight; as, to fight cocks; to fight one's ship.

To fight it out, to fight until a decisive and conclusive result is reached.

Fight

Fight\, n. [OE. fight, feht, AS. feoht. See Fight, v. i.]

1. A battle; an engagement; a contest in arms; a combat; a violent conflict or struggle for victory, between individuals or between armies, ships, or navies, etc.

Who now defies thee thrice to single fight. --Milton.

2. A struggle or contest of any kind.

3. Strength or disposition for fighting; pugnacity; as, he has a great deal of fight in him. [Colloq.]

4. A screen for the combatants in ships. [Obs.]

Up with your fights, and your nettings prepare. --Dryden.

Running fight, a fight in which the enemy is continually chased; also, one which continues without definite end or result.

Syn: Combat; engagement; contest; struggle; encounter; fray; affray; action; conflict. See Battle.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fight
Spanish: pelear (se), luchar,
German: kämpfen,
Japanese: 戦う
More Translations »

fight  (v.)
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 "y" sound was a M.E. scribal habit, especially before -t-. The noun is from O.E. feohte, gefeoht. First use of fighter for "fast military airplane used for combat" is from 1917.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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fight

In addition to the idioms beginning with fight, also see can't fight city hall.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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