Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

struggle for existence

noun
  1. the competition in nature among organisms of a population to maintain themselves in a given environment and to survive to reproduce others of their kind.
Show More

Origin of struggle for existence

First recorded in 1820–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for struggle for existence

struggle for existence

noun
  1. (not in technical usage) competition between organisms of a population, esp as a factor in the evolution of plants and animalsSee also natural selection
Show More
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