Library / English Dictionary

STRUGGLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Strenuous effort

Example:

the struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("struggle" is a kind of...):

effort; elbow grease; exertion; sweat; travail (use of physical or mental energy; hard work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "struggle"):

grapple; grappling; hand-to-hand struggle; wrestle; wrestling (the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat)

Derivation:

struggle (to exert strenuous effort against opposition)

struggle (climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling)

struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An energetic attempt to achieve something

Example:

he fought a battle for recognition

Synonyms:

battle; struggle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("struggle" is a kind of...):

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "struggle"):

duel (any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups))

scramble; scuffle (an unceremonious and disorganized struggle)

joust; tilt (a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances)

Derivation:

struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)

Example:

police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs

Synonyms:

battle; conflict; struggle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("struggle" is a kind of...):

group action (action taken by a group of people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "struggle"):

war; warfare (an active struggle between competing entities)

feud (a bitter quarrel between two parties)

combat; fight; fighting; scrap (the act of fighting; any contest or struggle)

turf war (a bitter struggle for territory or power or control or rights)

tug-of-war (any hard struggle between equally matched groups)

strife (bitter conflict; heated often violent dissension)

counterinsurgency; pacification (actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency)

insurrection; rebellion; revolt; rising; uprising (organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another)

class struggle; class war; class warfare (conflict between social or economic classes (especially between the capitalist and proletariat classes))

Derivation:

struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight

Example:

Militant groups are contending for control of the country

Synonyms:

contend; fight; struggle

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

"Struggle" entails doing...:

compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "struggle"):

engage; wage (carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns))

wrestle (engage in a wrestling match)

scuffle; tussle (fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters)

spar (fight with spurs)

box (engage in a boxing match)

fence (fight with fencing swords)

bandy (exchange blows)

skirmish (engage in a skirmish)

feud (carry out a feud)

tourney (engage in a tourney)

chicken-fight; chickenfight (fight while sitting on somebody's shoulders)

joust (joust against somebody in a tournament by fighting on horseback)

duel (fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman)

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

war (make or wage war)

battle; combat (battle or contend against in or as if in a battle)

fight back (defend oneself)

get back; settle (get one's revenge for a wrong or an injury)

defend; fight; fight back; fight down; oppose (fight against or resist strongly)

tug (struggle in opposition)

join battle (engage in a conflict)

fistfight (fight with the fists)

bear down (exert full strength)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

struggle (an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals))

Sense 2

Meaning:

To exert strenuous effort against opposition

Example:

he struggled to get free from the rope

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "struggle" is one way to...):

endeavor; endeavour; strive (attempt by employing effort)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

struggle (strenuous effort)

struggler (a person who struggles with difficulties or with great effort)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling

Synonyms:

clamber; scramble; shin; shinny; skin; sputter; struggle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "struggle" is one way to...):

climb (move with difficulty, by grasping)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

struggle (strenuous effort)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a strenuous or labored effort

Example:

He fought for breath

Synonyms:

fight; struggle

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "struggle" is one way to...):

assay; attempt; essay; seek; try (make an effort or attempt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "struggle"):

drive; labor; labour; push; tug (strive and make an effort to reach a goal)

flounder (behave awkwardly; have difficulties)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

struggle (strenuous effort)

struggle (an energetic attempt to achieve something)

struggler (a person who struggles with difficulties or with great effort)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I struggled along as well as I could, but Jo was too much for me.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He managed to struggle to his feet, and yelled out at them to have done with it and get it over.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now, you know, there's a struggle going on when that's the case.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was tempted to cease struggling with him—to rush down the torrent of his will into the gulf of his existence, and there lose my own.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a pause, during which Mr. Utterson struggled with himself.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Fanny struggled for speech, and said, “I am very sorry that anything has occurred to distress you. This ought to be a day of pleasure. My uncle meant it so.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I went down even into the vaults, where the dim light struggled, although to do so was a dread to my very soul.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Now, it was on those stairs that young Mr. Cunningham stood and saw the two men struggling just where we are.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During all this time he was evidently struggling for composure.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

But he would not abandon his position without a struggle.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)