struggle
[verb]
Synonyms:
- strive, exert oneself, give it one's best shot (informal), go all out (informal), knock oneself out (informal), labour, make an all-out effort (informal), strain, toil, work
- fight, battle, compete, contend, grapple, wrestle
[noun]
Synonyms:
- effort, exertion, labour, pains, scramble, toil, work
- fight, battle, brush, clash, combat, conflict, contest, tussle

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Antonyms: give up
Related Idioms: make a valiant attempt (or try)
Related Words: compete, vie

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English Thesaurus: fight, battle, scuffle, punch-up, brawl, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. strug‧gle¹ W3 /ˈstrʌɡəl/ verb [intransitive]

1. to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult
struggle to do something
She’s struggling to bring up a family alone.
struggle with
The airline is struggling with high costs.
struggle for
Millions of people are struggling for survival.
struggle against
Firms are struggling against a prolonged recession.

2.
a) to fight someone who is attacking you or holding you, especially so that you can escape
struggle with
James was hit in the mouth as he struggled with the burglars.
struggle to do something
She struggled to free herself.
b) if two people struggle, they fight each other for something, especially something one of them is holding
struggle for
They struggled for possession of the gun.

3. to move somewhere with great difficulty
struggle up/out of/into etc
Walkers were struggling up the dusty track.

4. to be likely to fail, even though you are trying very hard:
The team has been struggling all season.
a struggling artist/writer/business
struggle on phrasal verb
to continue doing something that you find very difficult or tiring:
He struggled on despite his condition.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. struggle² S3 W3 noun [countable]

1. a long hard fight to get freedom, political rights etc
struggle for
a struggle for survival
a power struggle between forces favoring and opposing change

2. a long period of time in which you try to deal with a difficult problem
struggle with/against
She spoke of her struggles with shyness.

3. a fight between two people for something, or an attempt by one person to escape from the other:
Police said there were no signs of a struggle.

4. be a struggle (for somebody) if something is a struggle, you find it very difficult to do

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

struggle
noun
I. fight
ADJ. great, life-and-death, titanic | bitter, desperate, fierce, heroic, violent There were the sounds of a desperate struggle.
just The UN supported what it saw as the just struggle of an oppressed people.
unequal | armed The group supported the armed struggle against the dictator.
class, internecine Marx wrote about the class struggle.
economic, ideological, leadership, political, power, revolutionary
VERB + STRUGGLE begin, put up, take up If someone snatched your bag, would you put up a struggle? They took up the struggle against racism.
be engaged/locked in, carry on, wage species engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the ever-changing environment
STRUGGLE + VERB ensue, take place | continue, go on | intensify
PREP. in a/the ~ One of the security guards was hurt in the struggle.
without a ~ She won't give up without a struggle.
~ against the struggle against fascism
~ between the struggle between good and evil
~ for the long struggle for democracy
~ over a struggle over the property
~ with He was involved in a struggle with the police.
PHRASES a sign of a struggle The police said that there was no sign of a struggle by the murder victim.
years of struggle After 150 years of struggle against brutal colonial rule, the country won its independence.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

struggle
II. great effort
ADJ. desperate, great, hard, real, uphill It will be an uphill struggle to maintain exports at the current level.
long | ceaseless, constant, endless | unequal
VERB + STRUGGLE face, have We had a real struggle to get everything into the suitcase.
give up I've given up the unequal struggle to keep my house tidy.
PHRASES a bit of a struggle It was a bit of a struggle for me to get there so early.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

struggle
verb
I. try very hard to do sth
ADV. desperately, hard, manfully, painfully, really, valiantly He struggled desperately to get to the shore. He struggled hard to keep the boat upright.
a little | constantly | on She struggled on despite the pain.
VERB + STRUGGLE have to
PREP. against The small boat struggled against the waves.
along, down, for Shona struggled for breath.
through The family struggled through the next few years.
up They struggled up the hill.
with I'm really struggling with this essay.
PHRASES struggle to your feet She struggled to her feet and set off after him.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

struggle
II. have great difficulties
ADV. badly The team struggled badly last season.
financially I was unemployed and struggling financially.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

struggle
III. fight sb/try to get away from them
ADV. fiercely, furiously, violently She struggled furiously but could not get away.
together Ben and Jack struggled together on the grass.
PREP. against struggling against her attacker
with He was hit in the mouth as he struggled with the raiders.
PHRASES struggle free The attacker's victim managed to struggle free.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

fight a situation in which people hit or attack each other because of an argument, or as a sport:
He had a fight with an older boy.
the famous fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman
battle a fight between opposing armies or groups of people:
The English king was killed at the Battle of Hastings.
a battle between two rival gangs
scuffle a short fight that is not very violent:
There was a short scuffle with the police, but no arrests were made.
punch-up British English informal a fight in which people hit each other because of an argument:
The game turned into a punch-up.
brawl a noisy fight between a group of people:
He was hurt in a drunken brawl.
altercation formal a short noisy argument or fight, especially one that is not serious:
There was a brief altercation and someone called the police.
riot a fight involving a large number of people, especially people who are protesting about something:
The book provoked riots all over Europe.
campaign a planned series of actions intended to achieve something:
Motoring organizations started a campaign for safer roads.
struggle a long, hard fight for freedom, independence, equal rights etc:
Nkrumah led the people in their struggle for independence.
crusade someone’s fight against something they think is morally wrong:
She intends to continue her crusade against sex and violence on TV.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

fight the process in which people try to stop something bad from happening or to improve a situation:
Schools have an important part to play in the fight against drugs.
women’s fight for equality
battle a fight to change a situation or deal with a problem in society:
The battle against racial discrimination is not over.
campaign a planned series of actions intended to achieve something:
Motoring organizations started a campaign for safer roads.
struggle a long, hard fight for freedom, independence, equal rights etc:
Nkrumah led the people in their struggle for independence.
crusade someone’s fight against something they think is morally wrong:
She intends to continue her crusade against sex and violence on TV.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

try to take action in order to do something that you may not be able to do:
I tried to explain what was wrong.
He tries hard in class, but he’s finding the work difficult.
attempt to try to do something, especially something difficult. Attempt is more formal than try and is used especially in written English:
Any prisoner who attempts to escape will be shot.
He was attempting to climb one of the world’s highest mountains.
do your best to try as hard as you can to do something:
We will do our best to help them.
make an effort to do something to try to do something, when you find this difficult:
It is worth making an effort to master these skills.
She made a big effort to be nice to him.
struggle to try very hard to do something that is very difficult, especially for a long time:
She’s still struggling to give up smoking.
Many of these families are struggling to survive.
strive formal to try very hard to achieve something:
The company must constantly strive for greater efficiency.
endeavour British English, endeavor American English /ɪnˈdevə $ -ər/ formal to try hard to do something:
Each employee shall endeavour to provide customers with the best service possible.
have a go/try informal to try to do something, especially when you are not sure that you will succeed:
I’m not very good at fixing taps, but I’ll have a go.
Do you want to have another try?
see if you can do something spoken to try to do something – used when offering to do something, or suggesting that someone should do something:
I’ll see if I can get you a ticket.
See if you can persuade her to come.
fight the process in which people try to stop something bad from happening or to improve a situation:
Schools have an important part to play in the fight against drugs.
women’s fight for equality
battle a fight to change a situation or deal with a problem in society:
The battle against racial discrimination is not over.
campaign a planned series of actions intended to achieve something:
Motoring organizations started a campaign for safer roads.
crusade someone’s fight against something they think is morally wrong:
She intends to continue her crusade against sex and violence on TV.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

try to take action in order to do something that you may not be able to do:
I tried to explain what was wrong.
He tries hard in class, but he’s finding the work difficult.
attempt to try to do something, especially something difficult. Attempt is more formal than try and is used especially in written English:
Any prisoner who attempts to escape will be shot.
He was attempting to climb one of the world’s highest mountains.
do your best to try as hard as you can to do something:
We will do our best to help them.
make an effort to do something to try to do something, when you find this difficult:
It is worth making an effort to master these skills.
She made a big effort to be nice to him.
struggle to try very hard to do something that is very difficult, especially for a long time:
She’s still struggling to give up smoking.
Many of these families are struggling to survive.
strive formal to try very hard to achieve something:
The company must constantly strive for greater efficiency.
endeavour British English, endeavor American English /ɪnˈdevə $ -ər/ formal to try hard to do something:
Each employee shall endeavour to provide customers with the best service possible.
have a go/try informal to try to do something, especially when you are not sure that you will succeed:
I’m not very good at fixing taps, but I’ll have a go.
Do you want to have another try?
see if you can do something spoken to try to do something – used when offering to do something, or suggesting that someone should do something:
I’ll see if I can get you a ticket.
See if you can persuade her to come.
have a try
I decided to have one last try.
give it a try informal
If your instinct is telling you to give it a try, then go ahead.
be worth a try (=be worth trying to do because you may succeed)
It’s worth a try – we’ve nothing to lose.
a good try
‘Do you really think you can win?’ ‘I’m going to have a darn good try.’
a nice try (=a good try that is not successful)
Nice try, Claudia, but not good enough, I’m afraid.
sb’s first/second try
This is his first try at directing.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲