With twice as many British soldiers, Washington was in for a fiercely competitive battle of wit and strength.
In the case of Wikipedia, its defenders were fiercely committed.
fiercely proud of her heritage, she deplores the racial prejudice she encountered when she came to Hollywood at age 17.
Middleton also says in her piece that she, like the rest of her family, is "fiercely competitive."
Winstead admits she was a tough boss, maybe too tough, inexperienced in delegating and fiercely protective of her vision.
"He would do so at the peril of his life, then," said the captain, fiercely.
"Often enough," he said fiercely, and he thought of his drunken father.
"My home is where my daughter is," answered Castell fiercely.
But his face had turned white and Dick saw that he was fiercely angry.
"It's Charley Channing that's the donkey; not me," cried Tod, fiercely.
mid-13c., "proud, noble, bold," from Old French fers, nominative form of fer, fier "strong, overwhelming, violent, fierce, wild; proud, mighty, great, impressive" (Modern French fier "proud, haughty"), from Latin ferus "wild, untamed," from PIE root *ghwer- "wild, wild animal" (cf. Greek ther, Old Church Slavonic zveri, Lithuanian zveris "wild beast").
Original English sense of "brave, proud" died out 16c., but caused the word at first to be commonly used as an epithet, which accounts for the rare instance of a French word entering English in the nominative case. Meaning "ferocious, wild, savage" is from c.1300. Related: Fiercely; fierceness.