fight

[fahyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fight ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a battle or combat.

any contest or struggle: a fight for recovery from an illness.

an angry argument or disagreement: Whenever we discuss politics, we end up in a fight.

Boxing. a bout or contest.

a game or diversion in which the participants hit or pelt each other with something harmless: a pillow fight; a water fight.

ability, will, or inclination to fight: There was no fight left in him.

verb (used without object), fought, fight·ing.

to engage in battle or in single combat; attempt to defend oneself against or to subdue, defeat, or destroy an adversary.

to contend in any manner; strive vigorously for or against something: He fought bravely against despair.

verb (used with object), fought, fight·ing.

to contend with in battle or combat; war against: England fought Germany.

to contend with or against in any manner: to fight despair; to fight the passage of a bill.

to carry on (a battle, duel, etc.).

to maintain (a cause, quarrel, etc.) by fighting or contending.

to make (one's way) by fighting or striving.

to cause or set (a boxer, animal, etc.) to fight.

to manage or maneuver (troops, ships, guns, planes, etc.) in battle.

Idioms

fight it out, to fight until a decision is reached: Let them fight it out among themselves.

fight shy of. shy¹(def 12).

fight with windmills. tilt¹(def 18).

Origin of fight

before 900; (v.) Middle English fi(g)hten, Old English fe(o)htan (cognate with German fechten); (noun) Middle English fi(g)ht, Old English feohte, (ge)feoht, derivative of the v. base

Related formsfight·a·ble, adjectivefight·a·bil·i·ty, nounfight·ing·ly, adverbout·fight, verb (used with object), out·fought, out·fight·ing.pre·fight, adjectivere·fight, verb, re·fought, re·fight·ing.un·fight·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms for fight

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fight ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. encounter, engagement, affray, fray, action, skirmish, melee; scuffle, tussle, row, riot.

Synonym study

1, 2. Fight, combat, conflict, contest denote a struggle of some kind. Fight connotes a hand-to-hand struggle for supremacy, literally or in a figurative sense. Combat suggests an armed encounter, as in war. Conflict implies a bodily, mental, or moral struggle caused by opposing views, beliefs, etc. Contest applies to either a friendly or a hostile struggle for a definite prize or aim.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fight it out

battle, fight

British Dictionary definitions for fight it out

fight

verb fights, fighting or fought

to oppose or struggle against (an enemy) in battle

to oppose or struggle against (a person, thing, cause, etc) in any manner

(tr) to engage in or carry on (a battle, contest, etc)

(when intr often foll by for) to uphold or maintain (a cause, ideal, etc) by fighting or strugglingto fight for freedom

(tr) to make or achieve (a way) by fighting

(intr) boxing

to box, as for a living
to use aggressive rough tactics

to engage (another or others) in combat

fight it out to contend or struggle until a decisive result is obtained

fight shy of to keep aloof from

noun

a battle, struggle, or physical combat

a quarrel, dispute, or contest

resistance (esp in the phrase to put up a fight)

the desire to take part in physical combat (esp in the phrase to show fight)

a boxing match

Word Origin for fight

Old English feohtan; related to Old Frisian fiuchta, Old Saxon, Old High German fehtan to fight

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

Word Origin and History for fight it out

fight

Old English feohte, gefeoht "a fight;" see fight (v.). Cf. Old Frisian fiucht, Old Saxon fehta, Dutch gevecht, Old High German gifeht, German Gefecht.

fight

Old English feohtan "to fight" (class III strong verb; past tense feaht, past participle fohten), from Proto-Germanic *fekhtanan (cf. Old High German fehtan, German fechten, Middle Dutch and Dutch vechten, Old Frisian fiuhta "to fight"), from PIE *pek- "to pluck out" (wool or hair), apparently with a notion of "pulling roughly" (cf. Greek pekein "to comb, shear," pekos "fleece, wool;" Persian pashm "wool, down," Latin pectere "to comb," Sanskrit paksman- "eyebrows, hair").

Spelling substitution of -gh- for a "hard H" sound was a Middle English scribal habit, especially before -t-. In some late Old English examples, the middle consonant was represented by a yogh. To fight back "resist" is recorded from 1890.

Idioms and Phrases with fight it out

fight it out

Settle a dispute by fighting, either physically or verbally. For example, The two sides couldn't agree on a budget but were determined to fight it out to the end. [Mid-1500s]

fight

In addition to the idioms beginning with fight

fight fire with fire
fighting chance
fighting words
fight it out
fight off
fight shy of
fight tooth and nail

also see:

can't fight city hall