fight

¹fight

verb \ˈfīt\

fought\ˈfȯt\fight·ing

Definition of FIGHT

intransitive verb

1

a : to contend in battle or physical combat; especially : to strive to overcome a person by blows or weapons b : to engage in boxing

2

: to put forth a determined effort

transitive verb

1

a (1) : to contend against in or as if in battle or physical combat (2) : to box against in the ring b (1) : to attempt to prevent the success or effectiveness of <the company fought the takeover attempt> (2) : to oppose the passage or development of <fight a bill in Congress>

2

a : wage, carry on <fight a battle> b : to take part in (as a boxing match)

3

: to struggle to endure or surmount <fight a cold>

4

a : to gain by struggle <fights his way through> b : to resolve by struggle <fought out their differences in court>

5

a : to manage (a ship) in a battle or storm b : to cause to struggle or contend c : to manage in an unnecessarily rough or awkward manner

— fight shy of

: to avoid facing or meeting

Examples of FIGHT

1. When he was young he was always fighting.
2. He fought like a tiger.
3. The U.S. and Germany fought in World Wars I and II.
4. They vowed to fight the invaders of their homeland.
5. The U.S. fought Germany in World Wars I and II.
6. He and his wife are always fighting over money.
7. We were fighting to protect our jobs.

Origin of FIGHT

Middle English, from Old English feohtan; akin to Old High German fehtan to fight and perhaps to Latin pectere to comb — more at pectinate

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to FIGHT

Synonyms: battle, clash (with), combat, scrimmage (with), skirmish (with), war (against)

Antonyms: advance, cultivate, encourage, forward, foster, further, nourish, nurture, promote

Related Words: duel, joust; bang, bash, bat, batter, beat, belt, bludgeon, bop, buffet, clobber, hammer, hit, knock, paste, pound, punch, slam, slap, slog, slug, smack, smite, sock, strike, swat, swipe, thump, thwack, wallop, whack, whale; box, spar; brawl; grapple, scuffle, tussle, wrestle; bump, collide

Near Antonyms: give up, submit, surrender

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Rhymes with FIGHT

bight, bite, blight, bright, byte, cite, dight, dite, flight, fright, height, hight, kite, knight, krait, kyte, light, lite, might, mite, night, plight, quite, right, rite, sight, site, sleight, slight, smite, spite, sprite, tight, trite, white, wight, wite, wright, write