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

Michigan is looking for a more complete performance after tussling with UTEP through the first half last week. — ABC News, 25 Sep. 2026

The video depicts a group of students engaged in horseplay, progressing to two 15-year-olds tussling and laughing, according to the suit. — Eric Peterson, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026

But for those who find (and in some cases may be slightly mystified as to why) that there is a nagging, needling value to Schrader’s ongoing project of tussling with grandiose dilemmas of transgression and deliverance, there is some new news here. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026

He was seen dancing at San Diego Comic Con, getting arrested in Times Square, giving out free hugs on the Santa Monica Pier, and tussling with an AMC employee over a bag of popcorn. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2026

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