CONTEND

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contend mean? 

• CONTEND (verb)
  The verb CONTEND has 6 senses:

1. maintain or assert

2. have an argument about something

3. to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation

4. succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available

5. compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others

6. be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight

  Familiarity information: CONTEND used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they contend    ... he / she / it contends   
Past simple: contended   
Past participle: contended   
-ing form: contending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Maintain or assert

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

contend; postulate

Context example:

He contended that Communism had no future

Hypernyms (to "contend" is one way to...):

claim (assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

contention (a point asserted as part of an argument)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have an argument about something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

argue; contend; debate; fence

Hypernyms (to "contend" is one way to...):

converse; discourse (carry on a conversation)

"Contend" entails doing...:

differ; disagree; dissent; take issue (be of different opinions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contend"):

spar (fight verbally)

bicker; brabble; niggle; pettifog; quibble; squabble (argue over petty things)

altercate; argufy; dispute; quarrel; scrap (have a disagreement over something)

oppose (be against; express opposition to)

stickle (dispute or argue stubbornly (especially minor points))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

contention (a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

To make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

contend; contest; repugn

Context example:

They contested the outcome of the race

Hypernyms (to "contend" is one way to...):

oppose (be against; express opposition to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contend"):

challenge; dispute; gainsay (take exception to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

contention (a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

contend; cope; deal; get by; grapple; make do; make out; manage

Context example:

They made do on half a loaf of bread every day

Hypernyms (to "contend" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contend"):

extemporize; improvise (manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand)

fend (try to manage without help)

cut; hack (be able to manage or manage successfully)

rub along; scrape along; scrape by; scratch along; squeak by; squeeze by (manage one's existence barely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

compete; contend; vie

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contend"):

equal; match; rival; touch (be equal to in quality or ability)

emulate (compete with successfully; approach or reach equality with)

rival (be the rival of, be in competition with)

race; run (compete in a race)

run off (decide (a contest or competition) by a runoff)

play (participate in games or sport)

go for; try for (make an attempt at achieving something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

contender (the contestant you hope to defeat)

contention (the act of competing as for profit or a prize)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

contend; fight; struggle

Context example:

Militant groups are contending for control of the country

"Contend" entails doing...:

compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "contend"):

battle; combat (battle or contend against in or as if in a battle)

engage; wage (carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns))

wrestle (engage in a wrestling match)

scuffle; tussle (fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters)

spar (fight with spurs)

box (engage in a boxing match)

fence (fight with fencing swords)

bandy (exchange blows)

skirmish (engage in a skirmish)

feud (carry out a feud)

tourney (engage in a tourney)

chicken-fight; chickenfight (fight while sitting on somebody's shoulders)

joust (joust against somebody in a tournament by fighting on horseback)

duel (fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman)

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

war (make or wage war)

fight back (defend oneself)

get back; settle (get one's revenge for a wrong or an injury)

defend; fight; fight back; fight down; oppose (fight against or resist strongly)

tug (struggle in opposition)

join battle (engage in a conflict)

fistfight (fight with the fists)

bear down (exert full strength)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

The trail was in excellent condition, well packed and hard, and there was no new-fallen snow with which to contend.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Again I contend that we are no farther advanced than we were before.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Uranus is in your third house, which also rules travel, and you may have weather delays to contend with, so be sure to keep track of weather reports before heading out.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As father and mother have contended, we were not made for each other, and we should both be happy because it was discovered not too late...

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“However,” I continued, Miss Brewster is right in contending that temptation is temptation whether the man yield or overcome.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Two wrongs did not make a right, she contended, and there was only one way to punish Dennin, and that was the legal way arranged by society.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"Just as I contended right along. No mere dog could have done what he did. He's a wolf."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

She must have had much more to contend with, in carrying on the correspondence, than he could.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She had, moreover, to contend with one disagreeable emotion entirely new to her—jealousy.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He would contend with these five knights, each to choose such weapons as suit him best.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)