fight

verb

\ ˈfīt

fought\ ˈfȯt

\; fighting

Definition of fight

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : to contend in battle or physical combat especially : to strive to overcome a person by blows or weapons The soldiers fought bravely.

b : to engage in boxing He will fight for the heavyweight title next month.

2 : to put forth a determined effort They were fighting to stay awake.

transitive verb

1a(1) : to contend against in or as if in battle or physical combat fought the invaders of his homeland was fighting a forest fire

(2) : to box against in the ring fought several strong contenders

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

2a : wage, carry on fight a battle

b : to take part in (a boxing match or similar contest)

3 : to struggle to endure or surmount fight a cold is fighting cancer

4a : to gain by struggle fights his way through

b : to resolve by struggle fought out their differences in court

5a : 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

fight

noun

Definition of fight (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a hostile encounter : battle, combat

b : a boxing match

c : a verbal disagreement : argument

2 : a struggle for a goal or an objective a fight for justice

3 : strength or disposition for fighting : pugnacity still full of fight

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Examples of fight in a Sentence

Verb

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

Noun

A fight broke out in the bar. When he was young he was always getting into fights. He got into another fight with his wife about money. a fight for the heavyweight title

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The episode, which is written by Canals with Pose’s co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, sets a mood that feels reverent and sad, and that underscores the stakes of what Pose’s characters are fighting for. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, "Pose Lets In the Light," 12 June 2019 The Massachusetts soldier was one of an estimated 180,000 U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) combatants fighting for the Union during the Civil War. — Brian Albrecht, cleveland.com, "Civil War Colored Troops names to be added to Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument at Juneteenth celebration," 11 June 2019 The two best players in the world for the past few months, Durant and the Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard, were facing off, fighting for immortality. — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, "Kevin Durant and Achilles, Two Heroes Who Had Decisions to Make," 11 June 2019 This seemed particularly true of the Americans on the western flank, who have been fighting hard for several days. — Wes Gallagher, Houston Chronicle, "U.S. TROOPS CAPTURE MONTEBOURG," 9 June 2019 The Bruins have to fight through that and resort to grit when skill won’t carry them. — Helene Elliott, latimes.com, "Stanley Cup Final: Blues’ Ivan Barbashev suspended for Game 6," 7 June 2019 Now Tucker Carlson is upset and stepping in to fight for Crowder’s rights. — Ellen Mcgirt, Fortune, "The NYPD Formally Apologizes for the 1969 Stonewall Raid: RaceAhead," 7 June 2019 Female footballers are more visible and powerful than ever before, while the women's game has certainly advanced, but for how long female footballers will have to fight for equality will depend on how the world looks back on France 2019. — Aimee Lewis, CNN, "Women's World Cup 2019: The most important in history," 6 June 2019 Rucker and his bandmates formed a close bond in their college years, occasionally having to fight their way out of a racist fraternity party after someone hurled bigoted language at Rucker. — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, "Hootie & the Blowfish, Great American Rock Band (Yes, Really)," 6 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The legal fight comes nearly four years after a legislative commission found the state was underestimating the cost of public education by hundreds of millions dollars annually. — James Vaznis, BostonGlobe.com, "Parents to file civil rights lawsuit against state over unequal school funding," 13 June 2019 Highlights include birthday and anniversary celebrations, an annual water fight, spring training games, an annual hike, a Christmas party complete with Santa and snow freshly delivered for the annual Snow Ball Fight. — Leigh Farr, azcentral, "Small Company Rankings," 13 June 2019 More than 130 home care agencies in the state are part of the coalition leading the fight against the prohibition. — Slade Rand, courant.com, "State restrictions on home care contracts stir response from skeptical caregivers, agencies," 12 June 2019 Joshua was knocked down twice in the third round and twice again in the seventh before the referee ended the fight. — Jenna West, SI.com, "Tyson Fury Calls Anthony Joshua 'Finished' After Loss to Andy Ruiz," 12 June 2019 At Bethpage last month, Johnson took the fight to long-time leader Koepka with a final-round charge before falling short at the end. — Rob Hodgetts, CNN, "Tiger Woods' 10-year plan to surpass Jack Nicklaus," 12 June 2019 But Trump has tossed that convention aside in the current leadership contest in Britain amid the bitter fight over Brexit, and in the run-up to Israel’s April election, among other votes. — Laura King, latimes.com, "Poland’s visiting president faces little pressure from Trump over democratic backsliding," 12 June 2019 Go after the companies that benefit from the occupation; refuse to fight this immoral fight. — Samanth Subramanian, The New Yorker, "The Prescient Anger of Arundhati Roy," 12 June 2019 Adam Lovato, Madison The all-section choice fights boredom in the outfield by trying to sing country music songs. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "U-T All-Academic Team Captains for spring sports," 12 June 2019

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