fought
ˈfȯt 
; fighting
; fighting
1
a
: 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.
1
a(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
3
: to struggle to endure or surmount
fight a cold
is fighting cancer
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
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
Joey Garrison, USA Today, 21 May 2025
Moving to Italy was a big jump and then moving here was another big jump: from Serie B to a big club that fights in European competition.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 21 May 2025
ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
The awards ceremony reception was being held outdoors when the fight between two adults led to the stabbing, a Fort Worth ISD spokesperson said in a statement.
—Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fight
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
The current plan would lift the SALT cap from $10,000 to $30,000, but a handful of blue-state Republicans have been fighting to raise the cap higher.
—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 21 May 2025
Moving to Italy was a big jump and then moving here was another big jump: from Serie B to a big club that fights in European competition.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Noun
Even when cases of public console hacking have led to protracted legal fights—such as George Hotz's saga with the PS3 or Team Xecuter's Switch jailbreaks—console makers don't seem to have used technical means to completely disable offline functions for specific consoles.
—ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
The awards ceremony reception was being held outdoors when the fight between two adults led to the stabbing, a Fort Worth ISD spokesperson said in a statement.
—Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fight
Cite this Entry
“Fight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fight. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fight
1 of 2 verb
fought
ˈfȯt
; fighting
; fighting
1
a
: to struggle against another in battle or physical combat
2
: to try hard
fighting to stay awake
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share