wrestling
Americannoun
-
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.
-
the act of a person who wrestles.
noun
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.
Vocabulary lists containing wrestling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Schools across the country are already wrestling with how much artificial intelligence belongs in education.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
The Lumen Technologies president and CFO was wrestling with a procurement problem and wanted input from the company’s chief revenue, technology and marketing officers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
We are also wrestling with a difficult question about our estate plan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
You have got one who focuses mainly on wrestling and grappling, the other who focuses on striking and anti-grappling.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
My mother was wrestling my three-year-old baby brother into the crib in his little bedroom upstairs.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
