wrestle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to engage in wrestling.
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to contend, as in a struggle for mastery; grapple.
to wrestle with one's conscience.
verb (used with object)
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to contend with in wrestling.
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to force by or as if by wrestling.
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to throw (a calf or other animal) for branding.
noun
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an act of or a bout at wrestling.
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a struggle.
verb
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to fight (another person) by holding, throwing, etc, without punching with the closed fist
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(intr) to participate in wrestling
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to fight with (a person, problem, or thing)
wrestle with one's conscience
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(tr) to move laboriously, as with wrestling movements
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(tr) to throw (an animal) for branding
noun
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the act of wrestling
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a struggle or tussle
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wrestle
before 1100; Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen (v.), Old English *wrǣstlian (compare Old English wrǣstlere wrestler), frequentative of wrǣstan to wrest; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German worstelen
Explanation
If you decide to wrestle on a team in high school, you'll be grabbing your opponent and trying to fling him to the ground while he tries to do the same to you. You might want to consider the ping pong team instead. Athletes wrestle wearing uniforms and helmets, and they follow very specific rules. Others wrestle more spontaneously — a bar bouncer might have to wrestle with an unruly patron, or a parent might need to wrestle a squirming toddler into her car seat. Yet another way to wrestle is with an idea or a problem, a kind of mental struggle. The Old English root, wræstan, means "to wrest," or to yank something out of another person's grasp.
Vocabulary lists containing wrestle
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Thirst
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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.
Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist and intellectual, speaks as if he is on the verge of Christian belief; confer his latest book, “We Who Wrestle With God.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
Many of these have been gathered in two acclaimed collections: “Black Jesus and Other Superheroes,” published in 2017, and “How to Wrestle a Girl,” which appeared four years later.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024
Wrestle with the things you need to wrestle with.
From Salon • Jun. 30, 2023
Dressed in a "Pray Eat Wrestle Repeat" T-shirt, Gareth "Angel" Thompson says he opened his wrestling ministry to help those who may have been forced to navigate difficult childhoods and volatile family situations.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2022
Wrestle mightily with God in secret, as one that feels the burden of a great want.
From In the School-Room Chapters in the Philosophy of Education by Hart, John S. (John Seely)
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.
