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
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Recent Examples of tussling
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
Yet the index has sagged to the bottom of this two-month range and is again tussling with its 50-day moving average.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 16 Dec. 2025
The characters were distrustful of each other (because anybody could be the killer), and one of Warren’s favorite memories is the scene with her and Mull tussling to get out of a tight bar space at the same time.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025
As a longtime Boulder resident, Dan used to climb the trees that were adjacent to Folsom in the ’70s to get a glimpse of CU tussling with those Oklahoma and Nebraska teams of old.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 23 Nov. 2025
The courtroom tussling has some juice this week.
—Noel Murray, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Things got testy with the Mammoth jamming away at Korpisalo after the whistle and Nikita Zadorov took issue with it, tussling with Brandon Tanev.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
The unaccompanied minor change was made at least partially in response to a viral video that showed a group of teens tussling near a row of carnival games.
—Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 5 Aug. 2025
Carl Anka, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Yet the index has sagged to the bottom of this two-month range and is again tussling with its 50-day moving average.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 16 Dec. 2025
The characters were distrustful of each other (because anybody could be the killer), and one of Warren’s favorite memories is the scene with her and Mull tussling to get out of a tight bar space at the same time.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025
As a longtime Boulder resident, Dan used to climb the trees that were adjacent to Folsom in the ’70s to get a glimpse of CU tussling with those Oklahoma and Nebraska teams of old.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 23 Nov. 2025
The courtroom tussling has some juice this week.
—Noel Murray, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Things got testy with the Mammoth jamming away at Korpisalo after the whistle and Nikita Zadorov took issue with it, tussling with Brandon Tanev.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
The unaccompanied minor change was made at least partially in response to a viral video that showed a group of teens tussling near a row of carnival games.
—Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tussling
Verb
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The general manager is seen wrestling with the customer.—
Adi Guajardo,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
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The tourism town of Natchez, wrestling with difficult histories, presents a microcosm for the wider United States.—
Charlie Hobbs,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Just a player who’s like fighting and clawing to play versus looking for a reason maybe not to.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
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Now, Mendoza tells CNN, the couple is no longer fighting to remain the United States.—
Susana Erazo,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tussling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tussling. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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