wrestle
Plural: wrestles
Noun
- the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat
- "they had a fierce wrestle"
- A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
- A situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.
- The action of contending or struggling.
Verb
Verb Forms: wrestled, wrestling, wrestles
- To engage in a physical struggle; to grapple.
- combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force
- "He wrestled all his life with his feeling of inferiority"
- engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate
- "I wrestled with this decision for years"
- to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
- engage in a wrestling match
- "The children wrestled in the garden"
- To take part in (a wrestling bout or match).
- Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.
- To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
- To engage in (a contest or struggle).
- To throw down (a calf or other livestock animal) for branding.
- To grapple or otherwise contend with an opponent in order to throw or force them to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
- Followed by with: to move or manipulate something using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
- To make one's way or move with some difficulty or effort.
- Followed by against or with: to contend, to struggle; to exert effort, to strive.
- To contend verbally; to argue, to debate, to dispute.
- To twist or wriggle; to writhe.
- Followed by with: to concern or occupy oneself closely, or deal with, a task, etc.
Examples
- Sometimes you have to wrestle with your letter tiles to find that perfect Scrabble word.
Origin / Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen (“to engage in grappling combat or sport, struggle, wrestle; to twist and turn, squirm, wriggle, writhe; (figurative) to contend, grapple with, struggle”), from Old English wrǣstlian (“to wrestle”), a frequentative form of wrǣstan (“to twist, wrest”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną (“to turn; to twist, wrest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). By surface analysis, wrest + -le (frequentative suffix). Probably related to wraxle (UK, dialectal, archaic).
The noun is derived from the verb.
cognates
* Middle Dutch worstelen, wrastelen (“to wrestle”) (modern Dutch worstelen)
* Middle Low German wrostelen (“to wrestle”) (German Low German frösseln, wrösseln)
* Saterland Frisian wrosselje (“to contend, wrestle”)
* West Frisian wrakselje (“to wrestle”)
Synonyms
grapple, grappling, hand-to-hand struggle, squirm, twist, worm, wrestling, wriggle, writhe, wraxle
Scrabble Score: 10
wrestle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordwrestle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
wrestle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary