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
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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
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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.
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Karpeles and his defense team contend that the funds were revenues of Mt. Gox.
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Democrats say the fees were slashed several years ago and want tougher oversight of insurance rates, contending the industry hasn't passed along savings.
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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.
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Neither of these teams will actually contend in 2018—the finals, barring any unforeseen injuries, will still pit the Warriors versus the Cavaliers.
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AMD contends the new GPU design and the HBM2 memory matter as much as the drivers in making Radeon relevant for workstations again.
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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...
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Several Democratic voters joined a lawsuit contending this partisan electoral map violated their rights to an equal vote.
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
CONTEND Defined for English Language Learners
contend
playDefinition of contend for English Language Learners
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: to argue or state (something) in a strong and definite way
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: to compete with someone or for something : to compete with a good chance of winning
CONTEND Defined for Kids
Learn More about contend
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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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