Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Struggle

Strug′gle (strŭg′g'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Struggled; p. pr. & vb. n. Struggling.] [OE. strogelen; cf. Icel. strjūka to stroke, to beat, to flog, Sw. stryka to stroke, to strike, Dan. stryge, G. straucheln to stumble. Cf. Stroll.] 1. To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.

2. To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle with adversity.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power to add or detract. Lincoln.

3. To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress.

'T is wisdom to beware, And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. Dryden.

Syn. — To strive; contend; labor; endeavor.

Strug′gle (strŭg′g'l), n. 1. A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress.

2. Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil. Macaulay.

3. Contest; contention; strife.

An honest might look upon the struggle with indifference. Addison.

Syn. — Endeavor; effort; contest; labor; difficulty.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.