struggle

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: battleconflictfightclamberscrambleshinshinnyskinsputtercontend

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. an energetic attempt to achieve something“getting through the crowd was a real struggle”“he fought a battle for recognition”Synonyms: battle
  2. an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)“the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph — Thomas Paine”“police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs”Synonyms: conflictbattle
  3. strenuous effort“the struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her”

Verb (4)

  1. make a strenuous or labored effort“She struggled for years to survive without welfare”“He fought for breath”Synonyms: fight
  2. to exert strenuous effort against opposition“he struggled to get free from the rope”
  3. climb awkwardly, as if by scramblingSynonyms: clamberscrambleshinshinnyskinsputter
  4. be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight“the tribesmen fought each other”“Siblings are always fighting”“Militant groups are contending for control of the country”Synonyms: contendfight
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Struggle \Strug"gle\, n.

1.A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress. [1913 Webster]

2.Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

3.Contest; contention; strife. [1913 Webster]

An honest might look upon the struggle with indifference.— Addison.[1913 Webster]

Syn: Endeavor; effort; contest; labor; difficulty. [1913 Webster]

Struggle \Strug"gle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Struggled; p. pr. & vb. n. Struggling.] [OE. strogelen; cf. Icel. strj?ka to stroke, to beat, to flog, Sw. stryka to stroke, to strike, Dan. stryge, G. straucheln to stumble. Cf. Stroll.]

1.To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body. [1913 Webster]

2.To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle with adversity. [1913 Webster]

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power to add or detract.— Lincoln.[1913 Webster]

3.To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress. [1913 Webster]

'T is wisdom to beware, And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

Syn: To strive; contend; labor; endeavor. [1913 Webster]

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