struggle

[ struhg-uhl ]
See synonyms for struggle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),strug·gled, strug·gling.
  1. to contend with an adversary or opposing force.

  2. to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.

  1. to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow.

  2. (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),strug·gled, strug·gling.
  1. to bring, put, etc., by struggling: She struggled the heavy box into a corner.

  2. to make (one's way) with violent effort.

noun
  1. the process or an act or instance of struggling.

  2. a war, fight, conflict, or contest of any kind.

  1. a task or goal requiring much effort to accomplish or achieve.

Origin of struggle

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English struglen, stroglen, frequentative verb (see -le) formed on a base of obscure origin

Other words for struggle

Other words from struggle

  • struggler, noun
  • strug·gling·ly, adverb
  • pre·strug·gle, noun, verb (used without object), pre·strug·gled, pre·strug·gling.
  • un·strug·gling, adjective

Words Nearby struggle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use struggle in a sentence

  • Vicars' wives had come and gone, but all had submitted, some after a brief struggle, to old Mrs. Wurzel's sway.

  • The crowd shuffled off in all directions, and then engaged in a confused struggle for the chairs.

    Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. Carryl
  • To this, it is greatly to be feared, the fiery Southerns will not submit without an armed struggle.

  • And a severe, embittered struggle then took place in a heart that seemed strangely divided against itself.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
  • His repeated coughing seemed a constant warning that at any moment he might be vanquished in the struggle for becoming silence.

British Dictionary definitions for struggle

struggle

/ (ˈstrʌɡəl) /


verb
  1. (intr; usually foll by for or against; may take an infinitive) to exert strength, energy, and force; work or strive: to struggle to obtain freedom

  2. (intr) to move about strenuously so as to escape from something confining

  1. (intr) to contend, battle, or fight

  2. (intr) to go or progress with difficulty

noun
  1. a laboured or strenuous exertion or effort

  2. a fight or battle

  1. the act of struggling

  2. the struggle Southern African the radical and armed opposition to apartheid, especially by the military wings of the ANC and the PAC

Origin of struggle

1
C14: of obscure origin

Derived forms of struggle

  • struggler, noun
  • struggling, adjective
  • strugglingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012