struggle
A contortion of the body in an attempt to escape or to perform a difficult task.
Noun 2 meanings
A contortion of the body in an attempt to escape or to perform a difficult task.
Strife, contention, great effort.
Verb 3 meanings
To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for or against), to contend.
“During the centuries, the people of Ireland struggled constantly to assert their right to govern themselves.”
To have difficulty with something.
“One of the doctor’s patients struggled with depression.”
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
“She struggled to escape from her assailant's grasp.”
Etymology
From Middle English struglen, stroglen, strogelen, of obscure origin; perhaps from a variant of *strokelen, *stroukelen (> English stroll), from Middle Dutch struyckelen ("to stumble, trip, falter"; > Modern Dutch struikelen), the frequentative form of Old Dutch *strūkon (“to stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *strūkōną, *strūkēną (“to be stiff”), from Proto-Indo-European *strug-, *ster- (“to be stiff; to bristle, strut, stumble, fall”), Cognate with Scots strugil (“to struggle, grapple, contend”).
Similar and opposite words
STRUGGLE at a glance
STRUGGLE has 8 letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble (S 1 + T 1 + R 1 + U 1 + G 2 + G 2 + L 1 + E 1) and 14 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,353 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with struggle
All rhymesOne letter away
- STRAGGLE10
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