Contend
[kən'tend] or [kən'tɛnd]
Definition
(verb.) maintain or assert; 'He contended that Communism had no future'.
(verb.) be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; 'the tribesmen fought each other'; 'Siblings are always fighting'; 'Militant groups are contending for control of the country'.
Inputed by Boris--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
(v. i.) To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
(v. i.) To strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
(v. t.) To struggle for; to contest.
Editor: Rebekah
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Strive, struggle, combat, fight, vie.[2]. Debate, dispute, argue, join issue.[3]. Maintain, affirm, assert.
Edited by Dinah
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Strive, compete, cope, dispute, vie, contest, struggle, grapple, argue,maintain, disagree, wrangle
ANT:Resign, concede, allow, relinquish, forego, surrender, waive
Typed by Ann
Definition
v.i. to strive: to struggle in emulation or in opposition: to dispute or debate (with against for with about): to urge one's course.—ns. Contend′ent Contend′er one who contends.—p.adj. Contend′ing striving.—n. Conten′tion a violent straining after any object: strife: debate.—adj. Conten′tious quarrelsome.—adv. Conten′tiously.—n. Conten′tiousness.
Editor: Meredith
Examples
- This is the arm of which so much was heard during the recent war with Spain, and against which our soldiers had to contend. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- I would scorn to contend for empire with him--I would scorn it. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Oh, Miss Jane, you don't know what I have to contend with. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- They had some difficulties to contend with which are now almost out of our path. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Well, Mr. Moore, you should contend against these changeful humours. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It was vain to contend. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- We were all women and could not contend. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- If two dissimilar metals could be decomposed and power at the same time produced they contended that practical work might be done with the force. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The day waned into a gloomy evening, overcast and sad, and I still contended with the same distress. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The cruiser is the result of the triumph of those who contended for high speed at the sacrifice of heavy armor protection and excessive battery strength. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I contended with my inward dimness of vision, before which clouds yet rolled. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Having nothing, so it is thought, to do with mental activity, it becomes a distraction, an evil to be contended with. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- For a time hunger and sleep contended, till the constellations reeled before my eyes and then were lost. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- She withdrew her veil, and looked on them with a countenance in which bashfulness contended with dignity. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Every one has experienced that disagreeable state of mind, in which a sensation of bodily weariness in vain contends against an inability to sleep. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I only wonder that our claims, contending against the superior claims of Mr and Mrs Boffin, had any weight. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- It was of no use arguing, contending against the sense of present happiness; to be near Robert was to be revived. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I felt no burthen, except the internal one of contrary and contending emotions. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Unscathed by the lance of his enemy, he had died a victim to the violence of his own contending passions. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- As this is written, the world is filled with the clang of contending armies. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- A woman who could betray me for such a rival was not worth contending for; she deserved only scorn; less, however, than I, who had been her dupe. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I turned to search for an opening through the contending hordes. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Typed by Darla