struggle

[ struhg-uhl ]

/ ˈstrʌg əl /

verb (used without object), strug·gled, strug·gling.

to contend with an adversary or opposing force.

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

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

(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.

to bring, put, etc., by struggling: She struggled the heavy box into a corner.

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

noun

the process or an act or instance of struggling.

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

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

Words nearby struggle

structure, structured, structured programming, structureless, strudel, struggle, struggle bus, struggle for existence, strum, struma, struma lymphomatosa

Origin of struggle

1350–1400; Middle English struglen, stroglen, frequentative v. (see -le) formed on a base of obscure origin

SYNONYMS FOR struggle

1 oppose, contest, fight, conflict.

7 endeavor, exertion.

8 encounter, skirmish. Struggle, brush, clash refer to a hostile meeting of opposing persons, parties, or forces. Struggle implies vigorous bodily effort or violent exertion: a hand-to-hand struggle. A brush is a brief, but smart, and often casual combat: a brush between patrols. Clash implies a direct and sharp collision between opposing parties, efforts, interests, etc.: a clash of opinions.

OTHER WORDS FROM struggle

strug·gler, nounstrug·gling·ly, adverbpre·strug·gle, noun, verb (used without object), pre·strug·gled, pre·strug·gling.un·strug·gling, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for struggler

She had the aptitude of the struggler who seeks emancipation.
Sister Carrie|Theodore Dreiser
A struggler after faith may well count among his assets the insight of the seers and of the Seer.
The Meaning of Faith|Harry Emerson Fosdick
After a short sharp fight he drew the fish close enough to net the struggler.
The Highgrader|William MacLeod Raine
I was floating on those waves of human being, in which the struggler must make for the shore, or sink.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXLV. July, 1844. Vol. LVI.|Various

It was, in Wagner's own phrase, "the gigantic perseverance of his friendship," that endeared him beyond words to the struggler.
The Love Affairs of Great Musicians, Volume 2|Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for struggler

struggle

/ (ˈstrʌɡəl) /

verb

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

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

(intr) to contend, battle, or fight

(intr) to go or progress with difficulty

noun

a laboured or strenuous exertion or effort

a fight or battle

the act of struggling

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

Derived forms of struggle

struggler, nounstruggling, adjectivestrugglingly, adverb

Word Origin for struggle

C14: of obscure origin

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

struggle

verb (used without object), strug·gled, strug·gling.

verb (used with object), strug·gled, strug·gling.

noun

Content related to struggle

Words nearby struggle

Origin of struggle

SYNONYMS FOR struggle

OTHER WORDS FROM struggle

Examples from the Web for struggler

British Dictionary definitions for struggler

verb

noun

Derived forms of struggle

Word Origin for struggle