strugglen.
/ˈstrʌɡl/, U.S. /ˈstrəɡ(ə)l/ 1. † c. A conflict between material agents; spec. effervescence. (Cf. struggling n. 2) Obsolete.
a. An act of struggling; a resolute contest, whether physical or otherwise; a continued effort to resist force or free oneself from constraint; a strong effort under difficulties.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > [noun] > striving or struggling > an act of
strugglingc1386
effort1490
bargain1615
struggle1692
pilget1777
warsle1792
sprattle1824
wrestle1893
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > under difficulties
strugglingc1386
struggle1692
hardscrabble1784
sprattle1824
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of
flitec1000
strifea1225
wara1300
pulla1400
lakec1420
contenta1450
stour?c1450
contentiona1500
pingle1543
agony1555
feudc1565
combat1567
skirmish1576
grapple1604
counter-scuffle1628
scuffle1641
agon1649
tug1660
tug of war1677
risse1684
struggle1692
palaver1707
hash1789
warsle1792
scrabble1794
set-to1794
go1823
bucklea1849
wrestle1850
tussle1857
head-to-head1884
scrum1905
battleground1931
shoot-out1953
mud-wrestle1986
the world > action or operation > endeavour > [noun] > striving or struggling
wrestlingc890
wragging?c1225
wraggling?c1225
strugglingc1386
straining1580
contention1583
strift1612
strifea1616
striving?1615
stickle1652
agonism1688
strain1693
struggle1833
floundering1868
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight
bicker1297
fightc1300
tirpeilc1330
ragea1393
stradec1400
intermell1489
cockfighta1513
skirm1534
bustle1579
pell-mellc1586
brabble1587
jostle1607
scufflea1616
counterbuff1632
mêléea1648
roil1690
tussle1749
scrimmage1780
turn-up1810
scrape1812
pounding match1815
mellay1819
struggle1840
mix-up1841
scrap1846
rough-up1891
turn-to1893
push and shove1895
bagarre1897
stoush1908
dogfight1910
bundle1936
sort-out1937
yike1940
bassa-bassa1956
punch-up1958
thump-up1967
1692 J. Locke Some Considerations Lowering Interest 115 The usual struggle and contest, as I said before,..is between the Landed Man and the Merchant. [Cf. supra 114 This pulling and contest is usually between the Landed Man and the Merchant.]
a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) VI. 207 Every Verse..speaking nothing but the Horrors of an hopeless Soul, and the Struggles and Agonies of one sinking under the dismal Apprehensions of the divine Wrath.
1772 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra II. lxviii. 320 There was a constant struggle between the legislature and the officers of justice.
1798 T. Morton Speed the Plough (1800) v. i. 64 'Tis hard for the heart to forego, without one struggle, its only hope of happiness.
1827 W. Scott Highland Widow in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. xii. 261 Her demand was never refused, though granted in many cases with a kind of struggle between compassion and aversion.
1833 Q. Rev. 49 407 These feather-weights..sometimes ride a winning race; though if it comes to a struggle, as the term is, they are almost certain to be defeated by the experienced jockey.
1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 200 The man..seized hold of the child's clothes in a very rough manner. A struggle immediately took place between the officer and the woman.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 159 The struggle which patriotism had for a time maintained against bigotry in the royal mind was at an end.
1867 J. Ruskin Time & Tide i. §1 The immediate struggle between the system of co-operation and the system of mastership.
1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Mar. 149/2 Zarathustra..anticipated that the final eschatologic struggle was at hand, when the sovereignty..of Ahura would be established.
b. A strong effort to continue to breathe, as in the death-agony or under conditions tending to produce suffocation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [noun] > shortness of breath > effort to breathe
struggle1794
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho I. vii. 218 He expired without a struggle, or a sigh.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 138 This event [death] sometimes takes place..in a placid manner, without any struggle, and not unfrequently with a smile on the countenance.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xi Suddenly whipping the fish over the side into the boat, he began flapping it about as if it were plunging in the death struggle.
1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. i. 22 He died at the good old age of seventy-four, without a groan or struggle.
1845 J. Coulter Adventures Pacific vii. 87 [The whale] turned over in a few minutes without a struggle.
1915 J. S. Haldane in Times 29 Apr. 9/6 These men were lying struggling for breath... There was nothing to account for the..struggle for air, but the one fact that they were suffering from acute bronchitis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > gas or air in liquid or effervescence > [noun]
boilingc1384
fervence14..
bubblinga1500
burbling1528
bullitiona1626
ebullition1646
fermentationa1661
intumescence1661
effervescence1685
struggle1741
struggling1764
bubblement1842
bubble1870
creaming1888
hotter1923
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > [noun] > mutual > specifically of material agents
struggle1794
1741 P. Shaw tr. H. Boerhaave New Method Chem. (ed. 2) I. 539 These salts rest after complete saturation, and then produce no struggle, upon the addition either of an alkali or an acid salt to the saturated mixture.
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 12 With magnesia it [sc. argill] can have no struggle.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 253 The earth, when dry, is a bad conductor, and will not receive the electricity from the clouds without a struggle.
d. struggle for existence, for life: in Biology used metaphorically to describe the relation between coexisting organic species when the causes tending to the survival of one tend to the extinction of another. Also gen., an effort under difficulties to obtain the means of livelihood; a continued resistance to influences threatening destruction or extinction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > active part of
mortal coil1604
life1763
struggle for existence, for lifea1827
the world > life > biology > balance of nature > relationships of organisms > [noun] > antagonism, competition, etc.
struggle for existence, for lifea1827
antibiosis1899
competition1905
predatism1920
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > act or live through difficulties > fight against destruction or extinction
struggle for existence, for lifea1827
a1827 in J. B. Norton Topics (1858) 214 Madras..rose amidst poverty and many struggles for existence.
1832 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 2) II. 56 In the universal struggle for existence, the right of the strongest eventually prevails; and the strength and durability of a race depends mainly on its prolificness, in which hybrids are acknowledged to be deficient.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species v. 148 In the struggle for life to which every animal is exposed, each..would have a better chance of supporting itself, by less nutriment being wasted.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 406 The struggle for existence is not confined to the animals, but appears in the kingdom of thought.
2. In generalized sense: Contention, determined effort or resistance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun]
hightOE
workOE
business1340
afforcinga1398
enforce1487
effort1490
contention1583
heave and shove1600
luctation1651
struggle1706
pingle1728
exertion1777
bother1823
brainstorming1839
beef1851
go-go-go1934
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun]
i-winc888
wrestlingc890
fightc1000
flitec1000
teenOE
winOE
ungrithlOE
wara1200
cockingc1225
strife?c1225
strivingc1275
struta1300
barratc1300
thro1303
battlec1375
contentionc1384
tuggingc1440
militationa1460
sturtc1480
bargain1487
bargaining1489
distrifea1500
concertation1509
hold1523
conflict1531
ruffle1532
tangling1535
scamblingc1538
tuilyie1550
bustling1553
tilt1567
ruffling1570
wresting1570
certationc1572
pinglinga1578
reluctation1593
combating1594
yoking1594
bandying1599
tention1602
contrast1609
colluctation1611
contestationa1616
dimication1623
rixation1623
colluctance1625
decertation1635
conflicting1640
contrasto1645
dispute1647
luctation1651
contest1665
stickle1665
contra-colluctation1674
contrasting1688
struggle1706
yed1719
widdle1789
scrambling1792
cut and thrust1846
headbutting1869
push-and-pull1881
contending1882
thrust and parry1889
aggro1973
1706 D. Hume Diary Parl. Scotl. (Bannatyne Club) 189 The Parliament..proceeded, and with very little struggle, approved Articles 9.–13.
1714 J. Fortescue-Aland Fortescue's Governance of Eng. Pref. 28 King John, after much struggle with his Barons, swears to restore the good Laws of his Ancestors.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. xc. 331 A conscience, that is upon the struggle with thee, and like a cunning wrestler watches its opportunity to give thee another fall.
1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek iv. 89 Not only of week-day labour, but of struggle for subsistence.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vi. i. 351 Jacobinism is in uttermost crisis and struggle.
1878 J. J. Young Ceramic Art 276 After fifteen or sixteen years of unheard-of struggle and misery, this indomitable genius [Palissy] produced the long-sought enamel.
1881 P. Brooks Candle of Lord 353 Not till you make men..intelligent, and fond of struggle,..not till then have you relieved poverty.
1901 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin Introd. Speculations..upon the gravest of all subjects—the subject of love at struggle with death.
Compounds
struggle-buggy n. U.S. slang a motor vehicle; spec. an old and battered one.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [noun] > old, worn-out
crock1903
struggle-buggy1925
heap1926
crate1928
jalopy1929
clunker1930
junker1932
iron1935
fixer-upper1948
bomb1953
banger1962
hooptie1968
skedonk1970
gambo1971
1925 College Humor Sept. 20/2 I'll say you can park in my struggle buggy.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues vii. 87 My struggle-buggy was getting to look like a rinky-dink old tin can on wheels.
struggle meeting n. [translating Chinese dòuzhēng huì] in Communist China: a meeting at which those who have aroused official or public disfavour are criticized or denounced.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > meeting or assembling for common purpose > [noun] > a meeting > types of
morn-speechOE
court1154
morrow-speech1183
conventicle1382
congregation1389
plenary session1483
journeyc1500
night school1529
assession1560
general meeting1565
family meeting1638
panegyris1647
desk1691
collegea1703
annual general meeting1725
mass meeting1733
panegyre1757
plenum1772
family council1797
coterie1805
Round Table1830
GA1844
indignation meeting1848
protest meeting1852
hui1858
primary1859
Quaker meeting1861
mothers' meeting1865
sit-down1868
town hall1912
jamboree1919
protest rally1921
con1940
face-to-face1960
morning prayers1961
struggle meeting1966
be-in1967
love-in1967
plenary1969
catch-up1972
rencontre1975
schmoozefest1976
1966 F. Schurmann Ideol. & Organization in Communist China v. 318 ‘Struggle meetings’ were held throughout China in which offending cadres were attacked, and by mass demand removed from office.
1973 Times 21 Mar. (China Trade Suppl.) p. viii/5 Officials who have been through ‘struggle meetings’, because they were considered to be bureaucratic..are likely to be sufficiently shaken by the experience to avoid arousing such resentments in the future.
Draft additions December 2015
With the. A campaign of organized resistance carried out over a long period of time against a state regarded as oppressive; spec. the resistance to apartheid in South Africa before 1994 (cf. struggle royalty n. at Additions). Often attributive.
ΚΠ
1952 Drum (Johannesburg) July 10 The present basis of the struggle is Africanism—we must broaden the basis.
1958 M. L. King in Afro-Amer. 21 June 19/5 In the struggle, in the transition from the old age to the new age, we have cosmic companionship.
1971 Black Scholar Jan. 58/1 Those in the struggle have to deal with black separatists because they stand today as a potent obstacle to full black liberation.
1989 E. Mashinini Strikes have followed Me xii. 123 Those white people who stand up to be counted with us in the struggle..are labelled by their right-wing white brethren as Communists and Kaffir-boeties (black brothers).
1991 Dissent Winter 136/2 Unity is never less than total and all acts of repression only reinforce the struggle.
1994 Sunday Times (S. Afr.) 4 Sept. 22 Both books epitomise the ‘struggle’ genre of African writing.
2001 K. Fearon & A. Verlaque Lurgan Champagne & Other Tales 124 I began to devour history books about the 1916 Easter Rising and the beginning of ‘The Struggle’.
2004 Mail & Guardian (S. Afr.) 18 June 2 Struggle icons such as Steve Biko..adorn designer T-shirts.
Draft additions December 2015
struggle royalty n. South African political activists who played a central role in resistance to apartheid; cf. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > politician > [noun] > person interested in politics > political activist
minuteman1794
activist1920
Yippie1968
Zippie1968
struggle royalty2003
2003 B. Trapido Frankie & Stankie 279 Sam has been politically active all through his student days..so naturally quite a few of his friends are the people who go on to become the nation's struggle-royalty.
2011 Mail & Guardian (S. Afr.) (Electronic ed.) 26 May Max Sisulu, Parliament speaker and son of struggle royalty Walter and Albertina Sisulu.
2014 S. Dubow Apartheid viii. 234 Winnie Mandela (still in many people's eyes the epitome of struggle royalty) nurtured false expectations that white power was about to dissipate.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
strugglev.
/ˈstrʌɡl/, U.S. /ˈstrəɡ(ə)l/ 1.
a. intransitive. To contend (with an adversary) in a close grapple as in wrestling; also, in wider use, to make violent bodily movements in order to resist force or free oneself from constraint; to exert one's physical strength in persistent striving against an opposing force.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight with [verb (transitive)]
fightOE
strugglec1386
wrestle1398
cope witha1467
undertake1470
to set one's foot by1536
skirmc1540
make1542
to break blows, words with1589
combata1592
to take up1600
warsle1606
stoush1924
c1386 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1130 As me was taught..Was no thyng bet to make yow to see Than strugle [v.rr. strogele, strogle, strougle] with a man vp on a tree.
c1386 G. Chaucer Pard. T. 501 And I shal ryue hym thurgh the sydes tweye Whil that thou strogelest [v.rr. struggelist, stroglest] with hym as in game.
1440 J. Shirley Cron. Dethe James Stewarde (1818) 19 And gretely the Kyng strogild with hem, for to have berevyd thame thare knyvys; by the which labur his handis wer all forkute.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 480/2 Strogolyn [v.r. strobelyn], colluctor.
1483 W. Caxton in tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 211 b/1 A rechelles felaw stroglyd and wrestlyd wyth her and brake alle her egges.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/1 I stroggell with my bodye, as one dothe that wolde nat be holden, je me desrigle.
1569 T. Roest tr. J. van der Noot Theatre Worldlings 5 b Much like vnto the Hare, who being caught in the nette, the more he struggleth, the faster he maketh hym self.
1600 Earl Gowrie's Conspir. C 1 In this meane tyme, his maiesty, wyth struggeling and wrastling wyth the said maister Alexander had broght him perforce out of that study.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 120 In strugling with him for the knife, in wresting it out of his hand, hee hurt himselfe therewith in the forehead.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxv. 22 And the children struggled together within her. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. i. 76 I will not struggle, I will stand stone still. View more context for this quotation
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 144 It is pleasant to see these Chickens, in one side some thrusting out their heads, others striving and struggling to get out their bodies.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 58 The Boats brawny Crew the Current stem, And, slow advancing, struggle with the Stream. View more context for this quotation
1787 T. Best Conc. Treat. Angling (1822) 56 Then if he [sc. the pike] struggles again very much, give him line again.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. i. 14 The wind was adverse, attended by some rain, and they struggled against it without much assistance from the tide.
1825 Bryant Afr. Chief 59 He struggled fiercely with his chain.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Dora in Poems (new ed.) II. 37 So saying, he took the boy, that cried aloud And struggled hard.
1848 J. Grant Adventures Aide-de-camp xl I was struggling breathlessly in the water.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxiv. 587 They..drank a great quantity of champagne at the buffet, where the people..struggled furiously for refreshments.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xv. 165 We struggled manfully to force our way through.
1905 E. Glyn Vicissitudes Evangeline 222 ‘No, no’, I said, struggling feebly to free myself.
b. To make violent efforts to breathe (usually, to struggle for breath); to be in the agony of death. Also (nonce-use) to pass out of (the world) with a struggle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] > be dying
to have one foot in the (also his, etc.) grave?1483
to draw on1484
to gasp up the ghost1577
gore1577
to turn one's face to the wall1579
to gasp one's last1603
groan1642
not to be long for this world1665
strugglea1674
to falter forth or out1814
to sprawl one's last1837
the world > life > death > manner of death > die in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > die lingeringly
starvelOE
strugglea1674
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > have or cause breathing disorder [verb (intransitive)] > become short of breath > make effort to breathe
strugglea1674
gasp1697
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Brief View Leviathan (1676) 281 There will at some time or other, before he struggles out of this world, be sadness to him in the consideration.
1685 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 407 Being now in much paine and strugling for breath.
2.
a. figurative. To contend resolutely, esp. with an adversary of superior power; to offer obstinate resistance; to make violent efforts to escape from constraint. Const. with, against, for.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > contend [verb (intransitive)]
winc888
fightc900
flitec900
wraxlec1000
wrestlea1200
cockc1225
conteckc1290
strivec1290
struta1300
topc1305
to have, hold, make, take strifec1374
stightlea1375
debatec1386
batea1400
strugglec1412
hurlc1440
ruffle1440
warc1460
warslea1500
pingle?a1513
contend1529
repugn1529
scruggle1530
sturtc1535
tuga1550
broilc1567
threap1572
yoke1581
bustle1585
bandy1594
tilt1595
combat1597
to go (also shake, try, wrestle) a fall1597
mutiny1597
militate1598
combatizec1600
scuffle1601
to run (or ride) a-tilt1608
wage1608
contesta1618
stickle1625
conflict1628
stickle1647
dispute1656
fence1665
contrast1672
scramble1696
to battle it1715
rug1832
grabble1835
buffet1839
tussle1862
pickeer1892
passage1895
tangle1928
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (intransitive)] > strive against something
witherc1000
wrag?c1225
wrest?c1225
strivec1300
repugna1382
strugglec1412
pressc1480
butt1566
wring?1570
gainstrive1596
wage1608
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > make strenuous efforts > in face of difficulties > to free oneself
struggle?1533
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 964 But in myn age wrastle with hardenesse, That with hym stroglid neuere in grennesse Of youthe, þat mutacion and chaunge..me seeme shulde al straunge.
c1425 St. Christina xii, in Anglia VIII. 124/30 Fro þen forþ þey sturglid [? read struglid] nor enforced no-thinge ageyne goddes wille.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/1 I strogell, I murmure with wordes secretly, je grommelle. He stroggleth at every thyng I do.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew Prol. f. vijv Euen so is the spirite oppressed and ouerladen of the fleshe thorow custome, that she struggeleth and striueth to get vp and to breake lowse in vayne.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iii. 68 O limed soule, that struggling to be free, Art more ingaged. View more context for this quotation
1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. vi. 381 With these and other arguments he struggles with his own conscience.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlix. 183 A virtuous man, struggling with adversity, [is] a scene worthy of the gods.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. viii. 211 My father..sits at home struggling with his grief.
1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. xii. 268 Whenever a party struggles for predominance in the State, it necessarily becomes a political body.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 123 No sooner was the first pressure of military tyranny felt, than the nation..began to struggle fiercely.
1855 C. Kingsley Sir W. Raleigh in Misc. (1860) I. 14 Close to our own shores, the Netherlands are struggling vainly for their liberties.
1856 Ann. Reg., Chron. 65/1 The counsel for the prisoner attempted to struggle against both the evidence and the prisoner's statement.
1857 G. Borrow Romany Rye I. xxxi. 368 There came over me the same feeling of horror that I had experienced of old..I struggled manfully against it.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People iii. §6. 146 It was with less success that the order struggled against the passion for knowledge.
1908 H. R. Haggard Ghost Kings i. 4 She and her people..had struggled against this South African scheme [of her husband's] even to the verge of open quarrel.
1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Mar. 121/4 There are States to-day prepared to help Germany to a dictatorship, against which, if she were successful, they would have to struggle in the end.
b. Said of passions, qualities, forces, etc.
ΚΠ
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Knight of Malta ii. v, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Kkkkk4v/1 How nature, and his honour struggle in him!
1663 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim (1687) xxvii. 300 Two passions he felt strugling in him at the same point of time.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 10 Half loath, and half consenting to the Ill, (For Loyal Blood within him strugled still).
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho IV. vi. 96 Pride, and something very like fear, seemed struggling in his breast.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake vi. 244 The sun-beams..struggling with the smoky air, Deadened the torches' yellow glare.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iii. viii. 210 Hope and ruth, flickering against despair and rage, still struggle in the minds of men.
1858 in Polit. Deb. between A. Lincoln & S. A. Douglas 15 Oct. (1912) II. 268 Right and wrong..are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle.
1906 W. M. F. Petrie Relig. Anc. Egypt i. 5 This idea [of ‘a jealous god’] struggled hard against polytheistic toleration.
3. quasi-transitive with adverb or phrase expressing the result of struggling. literal and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come into [verb (transitive)] > by struggling or force
struggle1633
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > struggle or force way out
wringc1384
struggle1633
the world > action or operation > difficulty > of difficulty: beset (a person) [verb (transitive)] > do, obtain, or produce with difficulty
struggle1889
scratch1922
scrape1963
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 253 Neither can hee thinke to struggle himselfe out from the mighty, and over-ruling power of his Creator.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre ii. ii. 45 Till after many changes he struggled himself again into the place.
1646 Unhappy Game Scotch & Eng. 20 How they shufle and cut to strugle themselves out of the Bryers.
1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. vi. 300 When the Light began to appear, the Asse had strugled her self out.
1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iv. 120 He there struggled down the last of his emotion.
4. To make great efforts in spite of difficulties; to contend resolutely with (a task, burden); to strive to do something difficult. †Also const. at. to struggle for existence: cf. struggle n. 1d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > strive or struggle
hiec888
to stand inc1175
wrag?c1225
wrestle?c1225
stretcha1375
strivec1384
pressc1390
hitc1400
wring1470
fend15..
battle1502
contend?1518
reluct1526
flichter1528
touse1542
struggle1597
to lay in1599
strain?1606
stickle1613
fork1681
sprattle1786
buffet1824
fight1859
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > make strenuous efforts > in face of difficulties
wring1470
warslea1500
contend?1518
agonize1570
wrestle1591
struggle1597
throe1615
pull1676
sprattle1786
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (intransitive)] > sustain life
liveeOE
subsist1602
to struggle for existence1849
support1869
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > make strenuous efforts > in face of difficulties > for survival
to struggle for existence1849
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxvii. 180 They struggle with that which they cannot fully master.
1644 King Charles I in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 299 Besydes our taske is not litle that we strugle with.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 606 They..wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach The tempting stream. View more context for this quotation
1687 F. Atterbury Answer Considerations Spirit Luther 64 The Church of England..had struggl'd and heav'd at a Reformation, ever since Wicliff's dayes.
1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xxxiv. 61 Who, that is struggling under his own evils, will add to them the miseries of another?
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho IV. i. 5 She struggled to overcome the pleadings of her heart.
1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xxix. 51 And when he struggled at a smile, His eye looked haggard wild.
1819 W. Irving Sketch Bk. i. 36 Such an opportunity as seldom occurs, of cheering a noble mind struggling under misfortunes.
1833 C. Lamb Death-bed in Last Ess. Elia 215 Where for years they have been struggling to raise a Girls' School with no effect.
1849 Q. Rev. Mar. 391 Long-horns [sc. cattle] which still struggle for a separate existence in a small district.
1855 Poultry Chron. 2 498 I saw a hungry little bantam cock struggling with a huge corn much too large for his gullet.
1856 A. Marsh Evelyn Marston xxxv Beds..where the same description of flowers were struggling for existence.
1862 C. S. Calverley Verses & Transl. (ed. 2) 31 I hear that youth..struggling with the first few bars. And I do think the amateur cornopean Should be put down by law.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i. 7 Glynn was struggling to answer the question..‘Where have I seen that face?’
1897 H. Caine Christian i. x. 47 When spoken to they would struggle to smile, but the smiles would break down after a moment.
1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xviii. 190 Along the baked banks of which [dry ravines] a few stunted trees—the only ones to be seen—struggle to keep themselves alive.
5. To make progress with difficulty to, into, out of (a place, a condition), through (something interposed). Also with adverb, along, forward, on. to struggle on: occasionally to maintain existence, or continue one's course of action, with difficulty.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward or advance [verb (intransitive)] > with persistence, effort, or urgency
shovec888
thringc893
thresta1225
wina1300
thrustc1330
pressa1375
throngc1440
wrestc1450
thrimp1513
to put forward1529
intrude1562
breast1581
shoulder1581
haggle1582
strivea1586
wrestle1591
to push on (also along)1602
elabour1606
contend1609
to put on?1611
struggle1686
worry1702
crush1755
squeege1783
battle1797
scrouge1798
sweat1856
flounder1861
pull?1863
tank1939
bulldozer1952
terrier1959
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > act or live through difficulties
scamblec1571
scramble1670
shift1723
manage1762
scrub1831
to struggle on1837
scratch1838
widdle1844
to worry along1871
to scrape along1884
to get by1908
scuffle1939
1686 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 508 The Booke will, (I doubt not) struggle through this unjust impediment.
1820 W. Irving Westm. Abbey in Sketch Bk. vii. 20 The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust.
1830 G. P. R. James Darnley II. iii. 70 A bass-relief whose figures seemed struggling from the stone.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vii. ii. 411 Either way, the world must contrive to struggle on.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxviii. 94 Hugh, struggling into a sitting posture and gazing at him intently.
1844 ‘E. Warburton’ Crescent & Cross (1846) I. i. 1 The town itself lay buried beneath an avalanch of snowy mist, through which a few spires scarcely struggled into sight.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 452 His looks and tones had inspired terror when he was merely a young advocate struggling into practice.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. §27. 212 My telescope..directed upon the men as they struggled through the snow.
1865 J. R. Seeley Ecce Homo (ed. 8) v. 40 Christ did not struggle forward to a position in which he could found a new state, but simply founded it.
1880 A. H. Swinton Insect Variety 10 Here..still struggles on a remnant of a once rich coleopterous fauna of lacustrine aspect.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vii. 101 When he was slowly struggling back to life and strength.
1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. Prol. 14 He struggled to his feet quickly.
1902 J. Buchan Watcher by Threshold v. 313 A moon was beginning to struggle through the windy clouds.
1908 E. M. Gordon Indian Folk Tales (1909) x. 98 For a while the medical work struggled along under great difficulties.
1910 G. Meredith Celt & Saxon xv, in Fortn. Rev. June 1061 His brown coat struggles out of the obscurity of the background [of the picture].
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > carry on (a contest, fight, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > contest (an object)
controvert1609
contend1697
struggle1769
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. xx. 280 The justices long struggled the point.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1692v.c1386- bucklebosom
- bucklechape
- bucklecovering
- buckled
- buckled down
- buckled plates
- buckled up
- bucklegarter
- bucklehammed
- bucklemaker
- bucklemanufacturer
- bucklepit
- buckleplates
- buckler
- buckler-beak
- buckler-fern
- buckler-hand
- buckler-head
- buckler-headed
- buckler-maker
- buckler-mustard
- buckler-play
- buckler-player
- buckler-playing
- buckler-thorn