Adjacent Words

Wrestle definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WRESTLE, v.i. resl.
1. To strive with arms extended, as two men, who seize each other by the collar and arms, each endeavoring to throw the other by tripping up his heels and twitching him off his center.
Another, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum.
2. To struggle; to strive; to contend.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat; "they had a fierce wrestle"; "we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully" [syn: wrestle, wrestling, grapple, grappling, hand-to-hand struggle] v
1: combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force; "He wrestled all his life with his feeling of inferiority"
2: engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate; "I wrestled with this decision for years"
3: to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling); "The prisoner writhed in discomfort"; "The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace" [syn: writhe, wrestle, wriggle, worm, squirm, twist]
4: engage in a wrestling match; "The children wrestled in the garden"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (wrestled; wrestling) Etymology: Middle English wrastlen, wrestlen, from Old English wr?stlian, frequentative of wr?stan Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to contend by grappling with and striving to trip or throw an opponent down or off balance 2. to combat an opposing tendency or force <wrestling with his conscience> 3. to engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate 4. to engage in or as if in a violent or determined struggle <wrestling with cumbersome luggage> transitive verb 1. a. to engage in (a match, bout, or fall) in wrestling b. to wrestle with <wrestle an alligator> 2. to move, maneuver, or force with difficulty • wrestler noun II. noun Date: 1593 the action or an instance of wrestling ; struggle; especially a wrestling bout

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a contest in which two opponents grapple and try to throw each other to the ground esp. as an athletic sport under a code of rules. 2 a hard struggle. --v. 1 intr. (often foll. by with) take part in a wrestle. 2 tr. fight (a person) in a wrestle (wrestled his opponent to the ground). 3 intr. a (foll. by with, against) struggle, contend. b (foll. by with) do one's utmost to deal with (a task, difficulty, etc.). 4 tr. move with efforts as if wrestling. Derivatives: wrestler n. wrestling n. Etymology: OE (unrecorded) wræstlian: cf. MLG wrostelen, OE wraxlian

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wrestle Wres"tle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wrestled; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrestling.] [OE. wrestlen, wrastlen, AS. wr?stlian, freq. of wr?stan to wrest; akin to OD. wrastelen to wrestle. See Wrest, v. t.] 1. To contend, by grappling with, and striving to trip or throw down, an opponent; as, they wrestled skillfully. To-morrow, sir, I wrestle for my credit, and he that escapes me without some broken limb shall acquit him well. --Shak. Another, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum. --Wiseman. 2. Hence, to struggle; to strive earnestly; to contend. Come, wrestle with thy affections. --Shak. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. --Eph. vi. 12. Difficulties with which he had himself wrestled. --M. Arnold.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wrestle Wres"tle, v. t. To wrestle with; to seek to throw down as in wrestling.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wrestle Wres"tle, n. A struggle between two persons to see which will throw the other down; a bout at wrestling; a wrestling match; a struggle. Whom in a wrestle the giant catching aloft, with a terrible hug broke three of his ribs. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wrestles, wrestling, wrestled) 1. When you wrestle with a difficult problem, you try to deal with it. Delegates wrestled with the problems of violence and sanctions... VERB: V with n 2. If you wrestle with someone, you fight them by forcing them into painful positions or throwing them to the ground, rather than by hitting them. Some people wrestle as a sport. They taught me to wrestle... VERB: V 3. If you wrestle a person or thing somewhere, you move them there using a lot of force, for example by twisting a part of someone's body into a painful position. We had to physically wrestle the child from the man's arms... VERB: V n prep 4. see also wrestling

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Eph. 6:12). See GAMES.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Contend, strive, struggle.

Moby Thesaurus

agonize, battle, box, brawl, broil, buffet, clash, close, collide, combat, come to blows, contend, contest, cut and thrust, duel, endeavor, essay, exchange blows, exert, fence, feud, fight, fight a duel, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple, grapple with, grunt and sweat, hassle, huff and puff, jostle, joust, labor, mix it up, moil, quarrel, rassle, riot, run a tilt, scramble, scuffle, skirmish, spar, strain, stretch, strive, struggle, thrust and parry, tilt, toil, tourney, travail, tussle, wage war, war, work