Struggle Definition

strŭgəl

struggled, struggles, struggling

verb

struggled, struggles, struggling

To exert muscular energy, as against a material force or mass.

Struggled with the heavy load.

American Heritage

To bring, put, do, etc. by struggling.

Webster's New World

To make (one's way) with difficulty.

Webster's New World

To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking.

Struggled for years before breaking through as an actor.

American Heritage

To make great efforts or attempts; strive; labor.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

struggles

The act of struggling.

The rat's struggle to escape the snake's coils.

American Heritage

Great effort or a series of efforts; violent exertion.

Webster's New World

Conflict; strife; contention.

Webster's New World

Something that is difficult to do or achieve.

Getting him to agree will be a struggle.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Struggle

Singular:

struggle

Plural:

From Middle English struglen, stroglen, strogelen, of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots strugil (“to struggle, grapple, contend"). Perhaps from a variant of *strokelen, *stroukelen (> English stroll), from Middle Dutch struyckelen ("to stumble, trip, falter"; > Modern Dutch struikelen), the frequentative form of Old Dutch *strÅ«kon (“to stumble"), from Proto-Germanic *strÅ«kōnÄ…, *strÅ«kÄ“nÄ… (“to be stiff"), from Proto-Indo-European *strug-, *ster- (“to be stiff; to bristle, strut, stumble, fall"), related to Middle Low German strûkelen ("to stumble"; > Low German strükeln), Old High German strÅ«hhÄ“n, strÅ«hhōn ("to stumble, trip, tumble, go astray"; > Modern German strauchen, straucheln).

From Wiktionary
Alternative etymology derives the base of struggle from Old Norse strúgr (“arrogance, pride, spitefulness, ill-will"), from Proto-Germanic *strÅ«kaz (“stiff, rigid"), ultimately from the same Proto-Indo-European root above, which would make it cognate with Swedish dialectal strug (“contention, strife, discord"), Norwegian stru (“obstinate, unruly"), Danish struende (“reluctantly"), Scots strug (“difficulty, perplexity, a laborious task").

From Wiktionary
Middle English struglen

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition