contend
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to struggle in rivalry, battle, etc; vie
-
to argue earnestly; debate
-
(tr; may take a clause as object) to assert or maintain
Related Words
See compete.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contend
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English contenden, from Anglo-French contendre, from Latin contendere “to compete, strive, draw tight,” equivalent to con- prefix meaning “with, together” + tendere “to stretch”; see con-, tend 1
Explanation
To defend a belief or keep affirming that it's true is to contend. People used to contend that the earth was flat, but eventually, when no one dropped off the edge no matter how far they traveled, the "round" theory won. One of the meanings of contend is from the French "to strive with," and it is a literal fighting, as in "to contend with fists." Most contemporary uses of the verb contend illustrate competitions of proof or defense, where a person will contend that something is true, or better, or wrong. It is still a striving but more of a verbal kind, where what you contend is what you hope to convince others is correct.
Vocabulary lists containing contend
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I am looking down at you, at you and yours,” he writes in “What One Must Contend With,” “Your stories and friends, your banal ludicrous dreams.”
From New York Times • Feb. 8, 2021
If there were such a vote at the dawn of the season, he would have been a shoo-in for Least Likely to Contend for the Cup this week.
From New York Times • Sep. 22, 2011
Penguins Can Still Contend Without Malkin Sergei Federov played some of his most inspired and most productive hockey as a member of the Detroit Red Wings when Steve Yzerman was sidelined with an injury.
From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2011
Or darest thou Contend that never hath it come to pass That divers strokes have happened at one time?
From On the Nature of Things by Leonard, William Ellery
"Contend with your substance and with your person."
From A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád' Showing that all the Wars of Mohammad Were Defensive; and that Aggressive War, or Compulsory Conversion, is not Allowed in The Koran - 1885 by Cherágh Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
