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struggle

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English struglen, stroglen, strogelen, of obscure origin; 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 *strūkon (“to stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *strūkōną, *strūkēną (“to be stiff”), from Proto-Indo-European *strug-, *ster- (“to be stiff; to bristle, strut, stumble, fall”),

Cognate with Scots strugil (“to struggle, grapple, contend”). Also related to Middle Low German strûkelen ("to stumble"; > Low German strükeln), Old High German strūhhēn, strūhhōn ("to stumble, trip, tumble, go astray"; > German strauchen, straucheln).

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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struggle (plural struggles)

  1. An effortful attempt to escape something dangerous, usually out of fear for one's life or health.
    • 2026 September 3, Shreya Lele, “The “Lady of the Dunes” Was Found Murdered in 1974. Nearly 50 Years Later, She Got Her Name Back”, in Skip Boring‎[1], archived from the original on 3 September 2026:
      The most striking detail was the absence of any sign of struggle. It looked as though the woman had made no attempt to fight back, evident from the lack of bruises/wounds on her body. It was probable that she had not expected the attack.
  2. (figurative) Strife, contention, great effort.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      The struggle with ways and means had recommenced, more difficult now a hundredfold than it had been before, because of their increasing needs. Their income disappeared as a little rivulet that is swallowed by the thirsty ground. He worked night and day to supplement it.
    • 2019, Rachel Timoner, “Book Review: Textual Activism by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz”, in Tikkun‎[2], archived from the original on 2 March 2026:
      R. Moskowitz charges cisgender readers to be as conscious and deliberate with our religious identities as transgender and gender non-conforming people are with theirs, arguing that holiness is only achieved through continuous and unrelenting struggle and change.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Dutch: struggle

Translations

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contortion of the body

Verb

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struggle (third-person singular simple present struggles, present participle struggling, simple past and past participle struggled)

  1. (intransitive) To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for or against), to contend.
    Synonym: (literary) agonize
    During the centuries, the people of Ireland struggled constantly to assert their right to govern themselves.
    • 1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709:
      Troutbeck is a tiny village midway between Penrith and Keswick in a very sparsely populated part of Cumberland, and it used to be said by facetious travellers that the reason why it ever had a station at all was to give the engine a rest after it had struggled up the long and trying incline from Threlkeld.
    • 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:
      England were ponderous with ball in hand, their runners static when taking the ball and their lines obvious, while their front row struggled badly in the scrum.
    • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
      Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.
    • 2022 January 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Emergency timetables as absences surge due to COVID”, in RAIL, number 948, page 6:
      Most train operators have reduced services with emergency timetables, as they struggle to cope with a rapid increase in staff absences due to the Omicron variant of COVID.
    • 2024 September 30, Chelsea Bailey, “‘Take his pulse, he’s blue’: Bodycam footage shows fatal encounter between epileptic Indiana man and first responders”, in CNN‎[3], archived from the original on 19 December 2025:
      The sheriff’s office released a compilation of bodycam footage Friday from deputies at the scene that shows them handcuffing Earl and pinning him down for more than 20 minutes as he struggles and repeatedly shouts for help.
    • 2026 January 7, 'Mystery Shopper', “Cornish cream - without the jams?”, in RAIL, number 1052, page 48:
      At Par, 150207 is the unit for the 1416 to Newquay. It is quite tatty and lacks tables - but does have plug sockets. It sounds laboured as it leaves, and while it sounds like it's struggling as it tackles Luxulyan, it's not losing time.
  2. (intransitive) To have difficulty with something.
    One of the doctor’s patients struggled with depression.
  3. (intransitive) To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
    She struggled to escape from her assailant's grasp.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

Usage notes

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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to make efforts with twisting or contortions of the body

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈstrʏ.ɡəl/
  • Hyphenation: strug‧gle

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English struggle.

Noun

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struggle m (plural struggles, diminutive struggletje n)

  1. struggle (strife, contention, great effort)
    Synonym: worsteling

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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struggle

  1. inflection of strugglen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative
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