Definition of struggle Struggle

/stɹʌˈgʌl/ - [strugul] - strug•gle

We found 19 definitions of struggle from 6 different sources.

What does struggle mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: struggles
struggle - strenuous effort; "the struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her"
		elbow grease, exertion, travail, effort, sweat use of physical or mental energy; hard work; "he got an A for effort"; "they managed only with great exertion"
struggle - an energetic attempt to achieve something; "getting through the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for recognition"
		battle
		try, attempt, endeavor, endeavour, effort earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she gave it a good try"
		duel any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups)
		scramble, scuffle an unceremonious and disorganized struggle
struggle - 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"
		conflict, battle
		group action action taken by a group of people
		class struggle, class war, class warfare conflict between social or economic classes (especially between the capitalist and proletariat classes)
		insurrection, revolt, uprising, rebellion, rising organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
		counterinsurgency, pacification actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency
		strife bitter conflict; heated often violent dissension
		tug-of-war any hard struggle between equally matched groups
		turf war a bitter struggle for territory or power or control or rights; "a turf war erupted between street gangs"; "the president's resignation was the result of a turf war with the board of directors"
		fighting, combat, scrap, fight an engagement fought between two military forces
		feud a bitter quarrel between two parties
Verb struggles, struggling, struggled
struggle - to exert strenuous effort against opposition; "he struggled to get free from the rope"
		endeavor, endeavour, strive attempt by employing effort; "we endeavor to make our customers happy"
struggle - 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"
		contend, fight
		compete, vie, contend compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
		drive back, fight off, rebuff, repulse, repel reject outright and bluntly; "She snubbed his proposal"
		bear down exert a force or cause a strain upon; "This tax bears down on the lower middle class"
		fistfight fight with the fists; "The man wanted to fist-fight"
		join battle engage in a conflict; "The battle over health care reform was joined"
		tug struggle in opposition; "She tugged and wrestled with her conflicts"
		fight down, fight back, fight, oppose, defend defend oneself
		get back, settle take up residence and become established; "The immigrants settled in the Midwest"
		fight back defend oneself
		battle, combat battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq"; "We must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they battled over the budget"
		war make or wage war
		assail, attack attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly"
		duel fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman; "In the 19th century, men often dueled over small matters"
		joust joust against somebody in a tournament by fighting on horseback
		chicken-fight, chickenfight fight while sitting on somebody's shoulders
		tourney engage in a tourney
		feud carry out a feud; "The two professors have been feuding for years"
		skirmish engage in a skirmish
		bandy discuss lightly; "We bandied around these difficult questions"
		fence fight with fencing swords
		box engage in a boxing match
		spar fight verbally; "They were sparring all night"
		scuffle, tussle fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters; "the drunken men started to scuffle"
		wrestle engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate; "I wrestled with this decision for years"
		wage, engage get caught; "make sure the gear is engaged"
struggle - make a strenuous or labored effort; "She struggled for years to survive without welfare"; "He fought for breath"
		fight
		assay, attempt, essay, seek, try analyze (chemical substances)
		labor, labour, tug, push, drive undergo the efforts of childbirth
		flounder behave awkwardly; have difficulties; "She is floundering in college"
struggle - climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
		clamber, scramble, shin, shinny, skin, sputter
		climb improve one's social status; "This young man knows how to climb the social ladder"

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Wiktionary

struggle (Noun)
strife, contention, great effort.
struggle (Verb)
To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight for or against, to contend.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

struggle (v. i.)
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
struggle (v. i.)
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.
struggle (v. i.)
To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress.
struggle (n.)
A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress.
struggle (n.)
Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil.
struggle (n.)
Contest; contention; strife.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

struggle
An energetic attempt to achieve something.
struggle
To make a strenuous or labored effort.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

struggle
strug′l, v.i. to make great efforts with contortions of the body: to make great exertions: to contend: to labour in pain: to be in agony or distress.—n. a violent effort with contortions of the body: great labour: agony.—n. Strugg′ler, one who struggles, strives, or contends. [Skeat explains M. E. strogelen as a weakened form of an assumed strokelen, a freq. verb, from Ice. strok-, stem of strokinn, pa.p. of strjúka, to strike; cf. Ice. strokka, to churn, also Sw. stryka, to strike.]