contend

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verb con·tend \ kən-ˈtend \

Definition of contend

intransitive verb

1 :to strive or vie in contest or rivalry or against difficulties :struggle

contended with the problems of municipal government

will contend for the championship this year

2 :to strive in debate :argue

transitive verb

1 :maintain, assert

contended that he was right

contends that the new law would help only the wealthy

2 :to struggle for :contest

She contended every point, objected to every request …
—Margaret Mead

See contend defined for English-language learners

See contend defined for kids

Examples of contend in a Sentence

These people contend that they have earned the right to the land.
The team is expected to contend for the championship this year.

Recent Examples of contend from the Web

But critics contend the efforts amount to a race to the bottom, syphoning jobs away from the U.S. while trapping Mexican workers in a low-wage cycle of poverty.

— Washington Post, "AP Exclusive: Senator’s family business uses Mexican labor," 13 July 2017
Karpeles and his defense team contend that the funds were revenues of Mt. Gox.

— elaine kurtenbach, The Seattle Times, "Mt Gox CEO denies embezzling millions of dollars of bitcoins," 11 July 2017
Democrats say the fees were slashed several years ago and want tougher oversight of insurance rates, contending the industry hasn't passed along savings.

— monique garcia, chicagotribune.com, "Madigan's House approves major income tax hike as Republicans break with Rauner," 2 July 2017
There is a trend of teams attempting to clear enough salary cap space to sign enough top players to contend against the Cavaliers or the Warriors, the league’s two top teams.

— matt giles, Longreads, "The Fading Relevance of the NBA Draft," 28 June 2017
Neither of these teams will actually contend in 2018—the finals, barring any unforeseen injuries, will still pit the Warriors versus the Cavaliers.

— matt giles, Longreads, "The Fading Relevance of the NBA Draft," 28 June 2017
AMD contends the new GPU design and the HBM2 memory matter as much as the drivers in making Radeon relevant for workstations again.

— gordon mah ung, PCWorld, "Hands-on: AMD's Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs Nvidia Titan Xp," 26 June 2017
His successor, though, will have to contend with scandals on numerous fronts, a leadership team gutted by executive departures and ousters, and a workplace culture widely criticized for being...

— vanessa fuhrmans, WSJ, "Wanted at Uber: a CEO Who Can Do Pretty Much Everything," 21 June 2017
Several Democratic voters joined a lawsuit contending this partisan electoral map violated their rights to an equal vote.

— tribune news service, NOLA.com, "Draw election districts to favor political parties? Supreme Court to decide legality," 19 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of contend

Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French contendre, from Latin contendere, from com- + tendere to stretch — more at thin

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First Known Use: 15th century

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contend Synonyms

Synonyms

battle, compete, face off, fight, race, rival, vie

Antonyms

deny, gainsay

Related Words

challenge, engage, play; jockey, jostle, maneuver; go out, try out; train, work

Near Antonyms

abandon; disavow, disclaim, disown, negate, negative, reject, repudiate; challenge, dispute, question; confute, disprove, rebut, refute; contradict, counter

CONTEND Defined for English Language Learners

contend

play

verb

Definition of contend for English Language Learners

: to argue or state (something) in a strong and definite way
: to compete with someone or for something : to compete with a good chance of winning

CONTEND Defined for Kids

contend

play

verb con·tend \ kən-ˈtend \

Definition of contend for Students

contended; contending

1 :compete

contend for a prize

2 :to try hard to deal with

He has many problems to contend with.

3 :to argue or state earnestly

She contends the test was unfair.

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See words that rhyme with contend Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for contend Spanish Central: Translation of contend Nglish: Translation of contend for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of contend for Arabic speakers

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Examples of contend in a Sentence

Recent Examples of contend from the Web

Origin and Etymology of contend

contend Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

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CONTEND Defined for English Language Learners

contend

Definition of contend for English Language Learners

CONTEND Defined for Kids

contend

Definition of contend for Students

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