struggle for existence

noun

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.

QUIZZES

TAKE ROUND 2 OF OUR PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ!

Here is our second set of teacher-selected PSAT vocabulary words. Do you know the meanings of these terms?
Question 1 of 10
advocate
to give up possession or occupancy of.
to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly.
to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of struggle for existence

First recorded in 1820–30

Words nearby struggle for existence

structured programming, structureless, strudel, struggle, struggle bus, struggle for existence, strum, struma, struma lymphomatosa, struma ovarii, strumectomy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for struggle for existence

struggle for existence

noun

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