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

Including Fonda, there are 25 inspiring change-makers who together fight against all forms of prejudice and inequality–racial, gender, and pay, amongst other issues. — Nicole Saunders, Harper's BAZAAR, "Jane Fonda Celebrates International Women's Day," 8 Mar. 2019 The organization helps fight against practices of the clothing industry that have turned it into one of the most polluting industries in the world. — Erin Quinn-kong, Woman's Day, "Are Your Fast-Fashion Clothes Killing Farmers?," 14 Feb. 2019 At the beginning of their trial, the two algorithms fought against each other to lower prices. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Left to Their Own Devices, Pricing Algorithms Resort to Collusion," 12 Feb. 2019 The program will allow a team of regulators, chosen by the Elysée, to familiarize [itself] with the tools and processes set up by Facebook to fight against hate speech. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "French investigators to work directly with Facebook to monitor hate speech," 12 Nov. 2018 This Easter, bring their PAW Patrol obsession to real life by introducing them to their favorite fire-fighting pup, Marshall. — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, "We Found the Best Easter Egg Hunts Near New York City," 11 Mar. 2019 But there's one acne-fighting ingredient that, outside of blogs and Reddit, is often overlooked: azelaic acid. — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, "Why So Many People Swear By Azelaic Acid to Combat Acne and Redness," 5 Mar. 2019 To do so, the Wave features five foam layers and a humidity-fighting wool cover. — Alyssa Fiorentino, House Beautiful, "Everything You Need To Know About The Casper Wave Mattress," 11 Feb. 2019 Getty ImagesAlexander Tamargo Out today, January 18, a new Netflix series on Carmen Sandiego is rewriting Sandiego in an animated series, making her a crime-fighting hero. — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "Gina Rodriguez Posed as Carmen Sandiego to Celebrate the Launch Of Her Netflix Series," 18 Jan. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Commey’s injured hand forced Lomachenko’s promoters to make this fight with Crolla, rather than surrender his WBA belt. — Greg Beacham, The Seattle Times, "Lomachenko stops Crolla in 4th, defends lightweight belts," 13 Apr. 2019 And people like Kent Ekeroth who, as spokesperson for Sweden Democrats, another (yawn) far-right party, was captured on video arming himself with an aluminum pipe after trying to pick a fight with a comedian of Kurdish descent. — Corey Seymour, Vogue, "I Watched the New Steve Bannon Documentary, The Brink, So You Don’t Have To," 27 Mar. 2019 This is in many ways intuitive: People of every country get into arguments and fights with friends, family, and peers. — German Lopez, Vox, "I’ve covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren’t a big mystery.," 14 Feb. 2019 The state has also promised a fight with the Trump administration, which is trying to roll back fuel economy standards in passenger vehicles. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "California amends rules to push vehicles toward hydrogen, electricity, biofuel," 30 Sep. 2018 But last year’s midterm elections were disappointing, and Mr. Trump has gone wanting for political clout in the immigration fight. — Shelby Steele, WSJ, "The Right and the Moral High Ground," 31 Mar. 2019 Others say that the creation of separate spaces for women hinders the fight for equal treatment in mixed-gender mosques. — Asma Uddin, Teen Vogue, "On Muslim Women's Day, Women-Only Mosques Are About Much More Than Prayer," 27 Mar. 2019 The fight to decarbonize and eventually go carbon negative will last beyond the lifetime of anyone reading this post. — David Roberts, Vox, "The case for “conditional optimism” on climate change," 29 Jan. 2019 Today's Al Roker shared an emotional message on Twitter wishing the host strength in her sobriety fight. — Selena Barrientos, Good Housekeeping, "'Today' Star Al Roker Sends Words of Encouragement to Wendy Williams as She Recovers From Addiction," 20 Mar. 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.