Synonyms of tussling

tussling

verb

present participle of tussle

as in wrestling

to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery

puppies tussling with one another, rolling over and over on the carpet

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wrestling
• fighting
• scuffling
• grappling
• brawling
• battling
• rassling
• contending
• dueling
• combating
• punching
• skirmishing
• hitting
• battering
• sparring
• slugging
• buffeting
• boxing
• striking
• clashing (with)
• bashing
• warring (against)
• beating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tussling

Two people with divergent intuitions about what’s normal, or endurable, can end up tussling over the same territory. — Ian Crouch, New Yorker, 15 July 2026

There’s nothing like it—the sun shining, a warm breeze tussling your hair, waves rushing onto the shore, and breathing in the fresh, salty air. — Susan B. Barnes, Southern Living, 14 July 2026

The sheriff's office released body camera footage showing a 30-second clip of Rivas tussling with the alligator. — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 9 June 2026

Two boys tussling over a bladder in a three-foot-high canvas painted by Joseph Wright of Derby in the late 1760s snarl up in a whirlpool of pain, each twisting the other’s right ear. — Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026

But filings ahead of the hearing in the 3rd Business Court Division shed more light on the dispute that has co-owners Grant Shaw and Alessandro Bosco — and Shaw’s former father in law Tom Sansone — tussling over control of the business and its debt. — Paul Flahive, Austin American Statesman, 27 Mar. 2026

So that tussle is still tussling. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026

The pair were caught tussling several times before Palmerston retired in 2020. — Jill Lawless, Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026

Would Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic stay on the right side of the match officials when tussling with Gabriel and William Saliba? — Carl Anka, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2026