Showing results for "wrestling"

• present participle of wrestle.

wrestling

American  

[res-ling] / ˈrɛs lɪŋ /

noun

1. a sport in which two opponents struggle hand to hand in order to pin or press each other's shoulders to the mat or ground, with the style, rules, and regulations differing widely in amateur and professional matches.

2. the act of a person who wrestles.

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wrestling British  

/ ˈrɛslɪŋ /

noun

1. any of certain sports in which the contestants fight each other according to various rules governing holds and usually forbidding blows with the closed fist. The principal object is to overcome the opponent either by throwing or pinning him to the ground or by causing him to submit See freestyle Graeco-Roman sumo

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Etymology

Origin of wrestling

before 1100; Middle English; Old English wrǣstlunge. See wrestle, -ing ¹

Explanation

Wrestling is a sport in which two athletes compete to see who can hold the other down, using specific moves. If you enjoy grappling with your brother, pinning each other to the couch, you might want to take up wrestling. Wrestling is one of the oldest sports, dating back to the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians. The original Greek Olympics included a brutal, violent form of wrestling. If you watch or participate in high school or college wrestling, you know that these days, it's a highly controlled, athletic sport. So-called professional wrestling, on the other hand, is mainly a form of entertainment, featuring gaudy costumes and elaborately choreographed moves.

Example Sentences

Nine university students entered the preliminaries this year, wrestling bulls weighing hundreds of kilograms and sporting hard, stubby horns.

From Barron's • Jun. 28, 2026

Early in his career, he spent seven frustrating weeks wrestling with another vast Mughal archive before abandoning it.

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026

Did you find yourself having an existential moment as Jeremy taking in what Carmy was wrestling with, or have you reckoned with it before?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026

Across much of Europe, governments are wrestling with how to sell voters on cuts to areas like welfare to free up money for things that could help growth, from defense to shoring up aging infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026

Carmen paced back and forth, wrestling with the thoughts in her head.

From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis

Related Words

• judo
• karate