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struggle

 - 3 dictionary results

strug⋅gle

  [struhg-uhl] verb, -gled, -gling, noun
Use struggle in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to contend with an adversary or opposing force.
2. to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.
3. to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow.
4. (of athletes and competitors) to be coping with inability to perform well or to win; contend with difficulty: After struggling for the whole month of June, he suddenly caught fire and raised his batting average 30 points.
–verb (used with object)
5. to bring, put, etc., by struggling: She struggled the heavy box into a corner.
6. to make (one's way) with violent effort.
–noun
7. the process or an act or instance of struggling.
8. a war, fight, conflict, or contest of any kind.
9. a task or goal requiring much effort to accomplish or achieve.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME struglen, stroglen, freq. v. (see -le ) formed on a base of obscure orig.

Related forms:
struggler, noun
strug⋅gling⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. oppose, contest, fight, conflict. 7. endeavor, exertion. 8. encounter, skirmish. Struggle, brush, clash refer to a hostile meeting of opposing persons, parties, or forces. Struggle implies vigorous bodily effort or violent exertion: a hand-to-hand struggle. A brush is a brief, but smart, and often casual combat: a brush between patrols. Clash implies a direct and sharp collision between opposing parties, efforts, interests, etc.: a clash of opinions.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To struggle
strug·gle   (strŭg'əl)   
v.   strug·gled, strug·gling, strug·gles

v.   intr.

  1. To exert muscular energy, as against a material force or mass: struggled with the heavy load.

  2. To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking: struggled with his math homework.

  3. To make a strenuous effort; strive: struggled to be polite.

  4. To contend or compete: "Right and wrong ... will ever continue to struggle" (Abraham Lincoln).

  5. To progress with difficulty: struggled through the novel.

v.   tr.
To move or place (something) with an effort: struggled the heavy desk into the elevator.
n.  

  1. The act of struggling.

  2. Strenuous effort; striving.

  3. Combat; strife: armed struggle.


[Middle English struglen.]
strug'gler n., strug'gling·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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Word Origin & History

struggle  (v.)
c.1386, probably a frequentative form, of uncertain origin. Skeat suggests O.N. strugr "ill will;" others suggest a connection to Du. struikelen, Ger. straucheln "to stumble." The noun is first recorded 1692.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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