fight Hear it!

fight Definition

fight (fīt)

intransitive verb fought, fight′·ing

    1. to take part in a physical struggle or battle; struggle
    2. to box, esp. professionally
  2. to struggle or work hard in trying to beat or overcome someone or something; contend
  3. to argue or quarrel; dispute: often with about or over

Etymology: ME fighten < OE feohtan, akin to Ger fechten < IE base *pek-, to pluck hair or wool > OE feoh (see fee) & L pecten, a comb, pecu, cattle

transitive verb

    1. to oppose physically or in battle, as with fists, weapons, etc.
    2. to box with in a contest
  2. to try to overcome; struggle against or contend with, as by argument, legislation, etc.
  3. to engage in or carry on (a war, conflict, case, etc.)
  4. to gain by struggle to fight one's way to the top
  5. to cause to fight; manage (a boxer, gamecock, etc.)

noun

  1. a physical struggle; battle; combat
  2. any struggle, contest, or quarrel
  3. power or readiness to fight; pugnacious spirit full of fight

Etymology: ME < OE feoht

fight Idioms

fight it out

to fight until one side is defeated

fight off

to struggle to avoid

fight Synonyms

fight

n.

  1. A violent struggle

    strife, conflict, contention, feud, quarrel, contest, struggle, encounter, row, dispute, disagreement, battle, battle royal, confrontation, controversy, brawl, affray, affair, fray, bout, match, fisticuffs, boxing match, round, broil, fracas, difficulty, altercation, bickering, wrangling, riot, argument, dissension, debate, competition, sparring match, a coming to blows, rivalry, skirmish, scrimmage, clash, scuffle, collision, brush, action, engagement, melee, passage of arms, sortie, pitched battle, tilt, joust, combat, duel, exchange of blows, wrestling match, squabble, game, discord, estrangement, hostilities, imbroglio, disturbance, recontre (French), tiff, difference of opinion, falling-out, fuss*, mix-up*, tussle*, scrap*, free-for-all*, ruckus*, run-in*, showdown*, flare-up*, go*, rumpus*, donnybrook*, set-to*, rhubarb*, hassle*; see also dispute.

  2. Willingness or eagerness to fight

    belligerence, pugnacity, mettle, hardihood; see aggression 2, courage 1.

fight, a rather general word for any contest, struggle, or quarrel, stresses physical or hand-to-hand combat; conflict, which may apply to anything from armed fighting to mental struggle, refers to a sharp disagreement or clash, as between opposing groups, interests, or ideas, and emphasizes difficulty of resolution the conflict over slavery; struggle implies great effort or violent exertion, physical or otherwise the struggle for existence; contention most frequently applies to heated verbal strife, or dispute religious contention; contest refers to a struggle, either friendly or hostile, for supremacy in some matter athletic contests, a contest of wits

fight Synonyms

fight

v.

  1. To struggle for an end

    carry on, strive, struggle, persevere, persist, push forward, support, uphold, lobby for, labor, work, exert oneself, travail, hammer away, toil on, take pains, spare no effort, fight one's way, put up a fight.

    Antonyms stop*, give up, quit.

  2. To engage in an encounter

    battle, contend, clash, strive, war, struggle, combat, contest, oppose, resist, protest, challenge, confront, meet, attack, argue, quarrel, feud, engage in hostilities, go to war, wage war, take up arms, withstand, do battle, give battle, cross swords, exchange shots, exchange blows, come to blows, engage in fisticuffs, brawl, scuffle, encounter, bear arms against, tussle, grapple, brush with, have a brush with, collide, engage with, close with, wrestle, box, spar, measure swords with, skirmish, wrangle, bicker, squabble, dispute, row, bandy with, have it out, duel, joust, tilt, compete, vie, join issue, assert oneself, enter the lists, take up the gauntlet, set to, fight the good fight, fight to the last ditch, tangle*, pitch into*, tear into*, take on all comers*, pick a bone with*, take the field*, scrap*, mix it up with*, hassle*, lock horns*, go to the mat*, make the fur fly*, go at it tooth and nail*, duke it out*.

    Antonyms retreat*, submit, yield.

fight Usage Examples

Object

  • battle: Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win.
  • terrorism: The U.S. administration has exploited the tragic events of September 11, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, to implement the pre-existing strategy.
  • war: We fought a war to support democracy in Kuwait.
  • poverty: Norway is also supporting specific pilot projects aimed at testing models for registering property and at fighting poverty through national reforms.
  • infection: A higher temperature or fever means the body is fighting the infection.
  • crime: New communications systems have also been put in place to improve the Met's response to fighting crime in London.

Converse of object

  • pick: A chastened America is unlikely to pick a fight on that right now.

Preposition: against

  • terrorism: Major reforms have been implemented in the way the Met deals with serious crime networks and in the fight against terrorism.
  • poverty: This is a really crucial moment in the global fight against poverty.
  • racism: These points apply with equal force to the fight against racism in all its forms.

Adjective modifier

  • spirited: Not wanting to take any chances he hit it and after 10 minutes and a spirited fight his prize was in the net!
  • brave: KFC ROASTED BY HOTPLATE KFC along with new Danish striker ( Anders ) put up a brave fight against a rampant hotplate squad.

Modifies a noun

  • racism: We provide a voice for Cuba through the pages of the newspaper Fight Racism!
  • scene: I prefer the fight scenes in Big Trouble in Little China, a bit more irony to the fight scenes.

Adjective complement

  • shy: His talks were almost guaranteed to provide good ' copy ' and he was not one to fight shy of controversy.

Noun used with modifier

  • sword: How you can have a dramatic sword fight while wearing pjamas and still come out of it looking cool, I have no idea.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • off: HIV attacks the body's immune system, making it hard to fight off infections.

Infinitive complement

  • defend: I sure do not remember fighting to defend anybody or anything.

Preposition: for

  • freedom: We have been fighting for freedom and democracy and a lot of us have paid a high price.
fight Quotes

The Soviet Republic needs an army that will be able to fight and conquer.

—Trotsky, Leon originally Lev Davidovich Bronstein

   That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright, But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight.

—Tennyson

How beautifully the English fight! But they must give way.

—Napoleon I

The believer will fight another believer over a shade of difference: the doubter fights only with himself.

—Greene, (Henry) Graham

   It is better to fight for the good, than to rail at the ill; I have felt with my native land, I am one with my kind, I embrace the purpose of God, and the doom assigned.

—Tennyson

Why are you telling me this? The British won't fight.

—Galtieri, Leopoldo Fortunato

One cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side.

—Gladstone,W(illiam) E(wart)

At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away: 'Spanishships of warat sea! Wehavesighted fifty-three!' Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: ''Fore God I am no coward; But I cannot meetthem here, for my ships are out of gear, And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but followquick. Wearesix ships oftheline; canwefight withfifty-three?' Then spake Sir Richard Grenville: 'I know you are no coward; You fly them for a moment to fight with them again. But I've ninety men and more that are lying sick ashore. I should count myself the coward if I left them, my Lord Howard, To these Inquisition dogs and the devildoms of Spain.' So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day, Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven.

—Tennyson

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleamingö Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming! Keynes And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through thenight that our flag was still there; O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

—Key, Francis Scott

Our cock won't fight.

—Baron

You help them get elected, and then the Senate becomes the wife, the mistress. That was one lady I couldn't begin to fight. She was too tough.

—Taylor, Elizabeth Rosemond

I know one thing we did right Was the day we started to fight, Keep your eye on the prize, Hold on, hold on!

—Anonymous

Get up, stand up Stand up for your rights Get up, stand up Don't give up the fight.

—Marley, Bob (Robert Nesta)

We don't want to fight, but by jingo if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too!

—Hunt, G W

It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.

—Stevenson, Adlai E(wing)

You don't need to be 'straight'to fight and die for your country.You just need to shoot straight.

—Goldwater, Barry M(orris)

Some of us will fight and fight again to save the party we love.We will fight and fight againtobring back sanityand honestyand dignity, so that our party, with its great past, may retain its glory and its greatness.

—Gaitskell, Hugh

No, when the fight begins within himself, A man's worth something.

—Browning, Robert

The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb.

—Borges,Jorge Luis

En skulde aldrig ha'sine bedste buxer pafi  , nafi   r en er ude og strider for frihed og sandhed. You should never have your best trousers on when you turn out to fight for freedom and truth.

—Ibsen, HenrikJohan

Je combattrai pour l'Homme. Contre ses ennemis. Mais aussi contre moi-me"  me. I shall fight for mankind. Against his enemies.But also against myself.

—Saint-Exupe¤  ry, Antoine de

   The Fight for our National Intelligence.

—Cattell, Raymond B(ernard)

To fight for the right, to abhor the imperfect, the unjust, or the mean, to swerve neither to the right hand nor the left, to care nothing for flattery or applause or odium or abuseöit is so easy to have any of them in Indiaönever to let your enthusiasm be soured or your courage grow dim but to remember that the Almighty has placed your hand on the greatest of his ploughs, in whose furrow the nations of the future are germinating and taking shape, to drive the blade a little forward in your time and to feel that somewhere among those millions you have left, a little justice, or happiness or prosperity, a sense of manliness or moral dignity, a springof patriotism, a dawn of intellectual enlightenmentora stirringofduty whereit did not exist beforeöthat is enough, that is the Englishman's justification in India.

—Curzon (of Kedleston), Lord George Nathaniel

One omen is best of allöto fight for your country.

—Homer   8c

This is the best portent, to fight in defence of one's country.

—Homer   8c

This fight is bigger than life itself.

—King, Don

I purpose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer.

—Grant, Ulysses S(impson)

We shall not flag or fail.We shall go on to the end.We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be.We shall fight on the beaches, weshall fight onthelanding grounds, weshall fight inthe fields and in thestreets, we shall fight inthehills.We shall never surrender.

—Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer

Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement.With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of ourcause, each one of us must fight on until the end.

—Haig (of Bemersyde), Douglas Haig, 1st Earl

Fight the good fight of faith.

—Bible (NewTestament)

And as for you, archers, soldiers, gentlemen, and all otherswhoare besieging Orleans,depart in God'sname to your own country† I assure you that wherever I find your people in France I shall fight them, and pursue them, and expel them from here, whether they will or not.

—StJoan of Arc

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

—Bible (NewTestament)

   For as concerning football playing, I protest unto you it may be rather called a friendly kind of fight than a play or recreation, a bloody or murmuring practice than a fellowly sport or pastime.

—Stubbes, Philip

   'And everybody praised the Duke, Who this great fight did win.' 'But what good came of it at last?' Quoth little Peterkin. 'Why that I cannot tell,'said he, 'But 'twas a famous victory.'

—Southey, Robert

I shall fight. I will fight on.

—Thatcher, Margaret HildaThatcher, Baroness

If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is no better than a game of private theatricals from which one may withdraw at will.

—James,William

Whither depart the souls of the brave that die in the battle, Die in the lost, lost fight, for the cause that perishes with them?

—Clough, Arthur Hugh

There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight; there issuch a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.

—Wilson, (Thomas) Woodrow

The man who runs away will fight again.

—Menander

And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three.

—Tennyson

Sir, I have not yet begun to fight.

—Jones,John Paul

There is only the fight to recover what has been lost And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss. For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Ningue¤  m no cais tem um nome so¤  .Todos te"  m tambe¤  m um apelido ou abreviam o nome, ou o aumentam, ou lhe acrescentam qualquer coisa que recorde uma histo¤  ria, uma luta, um amor. No one onthe dockshasjust onename.Everybody has a nickname too, or the name is shortened, or lengthened, or something is added that recalls a tale, a fight, a woman.

—Amado,Jorge

For, those that fly, may fight again, Which he can never do that's slain.

—Butler, Samuel

I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

Servant of God, well done, well hast thou fought The better fight.

—Milton,John

To fight aloud, is very brave, But gallanter, I know, Who charge within the bosom The Cavalry of Woe.

—Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth

The allies are too frightened to fight each other, too stupid too agree.

—Benevento

Ulster will not be a consenting party.Ulster, attheproper time, will resort to the supreme arbitrament of force; Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right.

—Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer

When we began this fight, we had clean handsöare they clean now? What's gentility worth if it can't stand fire?

—Galsworthy,John

If they come we are ready.We will fight them on the streets, from the rooftops, from house to house.We will never surrender our independence no matter what happens in any invasion.

—Hussein, Saddam

  The only time it isn't good for you is when you write or when you fight.You have to do that cold.But it always helps my shooting. Modern life, too, is often a mechanical oppression and liquor is the only mechanical relief. 394

—Hemingway, Ernest Millar

Well, maybe like Casy says, a fellowain't got a soul of his own, but on'ya piece of a big oneöan thenö† Then it don'matter. Then I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be everywhereöwherever you look.Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there.Wherever they's a cop beatin'up aguy,I'll bethere.If Casyknowed, why,I'll be inthewayguysyell whenthey'remad an'öI'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an'they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they buildöwhy, I'll be there. See?

—Steinbeck,John Ernest

I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land.

—Blake,William