Struggle vs. Contend — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Struggle and Contend
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Definitions
Struggle
To exert muscular energy, as against a material force or mass
Struggled with the heavy load.
Contend
To strive in opposition or against difficulties; struggle
Armies contending for control of territory.
Had to contend with long lines at the airport.
Struggle
To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking
Struggled for years before breaking through as an actor.
Contend
To strive in competition, as in a race; vie
Two runners contending for the lead.
Struggle
To have difficulty or make a strenuous effort doing something
Struggled to be polite.
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Contend
To strive in controversy or debate; dispute.
Struggle
To move or progress with difficulty
Struggled up the steep slope.
Contend
To assert or maintain
The defense contended that the evidence was inadmissible.
Struggle
To contend or compete
"Right and wrong ... will ever continue to struggle" (Abraham Lincoln).
Contend
(intransitive) To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
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Struggle
To move or place (something) with an effort
Struggled the heavy desk into the elevator.
Contend
(intransitive) To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
Struggle
The act of struggling
The rat's struggle to escape the snake's coils.
Contend
(intransitive) To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
Struggle
A strenuous effort in the face of difficulty
The struggle for civil rights.
Contend
(intransitive) To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate.
In this paper the author contends that no useful results can be obtained if this method is used.
Struggle
Strife, contention, or combat
Armed struggle.
Contend
Contend with: To try to cope with a difficulty or problem.
Struggle
Something that is difficult to do or achieve
Getting him to agree will be a struggle.
Contend
To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
For never two such kingdoms did contendWithout much fall of blood.
The Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle.
In ambitious strength I didContend against thy valor.
Struggle
A contortion of the body in an attempt to escape or to perform a difficult task.
Contend
To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
You sit above, and see vain men belowContend for what you only can bestow.
Struggle
(figurative) Strife, contention, great effort.
Contend
To strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
The question which our author would contend for.
Many things he fiercely contended about were trivial.
Struggle
To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for or against), to contend.
During the centuries, the people of Ireland struggled constantly to assert their right to govern themselves.
Contend
To struggle for; to contest.
Carthage shall contend the world with Rome.Dryden.
Struggle
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
She struggled to escape from her assailant's grasp.
Contend
Maintain or assert;
He contended that Communism had no future
Struggle
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
Contend
Have an argument about something
Struggle
To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle with adversity.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power to add or detract.
Contend
To make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation;
They contested the outcome of the race
Struggle
To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress.
'T is wisdom to beware,And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.
Contend
Compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
Struggle
A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress.
Contend
Come to terms or deal successfully with;
We got by on just a gallon of gas
They made do on half a loaf of bread every day
Struggle
Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil.
Struggle
Contest; contention; strife.
An honest might look upon the struggle with indifference.
Struggle
An energetic attempt to achieve something;
Getting through the crowd was a real struggle
He fought a battle for recognition
Struggle
An open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals);
The harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph
Police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs
Struggle
Strenuous effort;
The struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her
Struggle
Make a strenuous or labored effort;
She struggled for years to survive without welfare
He fought for breath
Struggle
To exert strenuous effort against opposition;
He struggled to get free from the rope
Struggle
Climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
Struggle
Be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight;
The tribesmen fought each other
Siblings are always fighting
