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struggle
6 dictionary results for: struggle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
strug·gle       [struhg-uhl] Pronunciation Key verb, -gled, -gling, noun
–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
strug·gle       (strŭg'əl)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
struggle

noun
1. an energetic attempt to achieve something; "getting through the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for recognition" 
2. an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); "the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph"--Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs" [syn: conflict] 
3. strenuous effort; "the struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her" 

verb
1. make a strenuous or labored effort; "She struggled for years to survive without welfare"; "He fought for breath" [syn: fight] 
2. to exert strenuous effort against opposition; "he struggled to get free from the rope" 
3. climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling [syn: clamber] 
4. be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant groups are contending for control of the country" [syn: contend] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Struggle

Strug"gle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Struggled; p. pr. & vb. n. Struggling.] [OE. strogelen; cf. Icel. strj?ka to stroke, to beat, to flog, Sw. stryka to stroke, to strike, Dan. stryge, G. straucheln to stumble. Cf. Stroll.]

1. To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.

2. To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle with adversity.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power to add or detract. --Lincoln.

3. To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress.

'T is wisdom to beware, And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. --Dryden.

Syn: To strive; contend; labor; endeavor.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Struggle

Strug"gle\, n. 1. A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress.

2. Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil. --Macaulay.

3. Contest; contention; strife.

An honest might look upon the struggle with indifference. --Addison.

Syn: Endeavor; effort; contest; labor; difficulty.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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