WRESTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wrestle mean? 

• WRESTLE (noun)
  The noun WRESTLE has 1 sense:

1. the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat

  Familiarity information: WRESTLE used as a noun is very rare.

• WRESTLE (verb)
  The verb WRESTLE has 4 senses:

1. combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force

2. engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate

3. to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)

4. engage in a wrestling match

  Familiarity information: WRESTLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRESTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

grapple; grappling; hand-to-hand struggle; wrestle; wrestling

Context example:

we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully

Hypernyms ("wrestle" is a kind of...):

struggle (strenuous effort)

Derivation:

wrestle (engage in a wrestling match)

• WRESTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wrestle    ... he / she / it wrestles   
Past simple: wrestled   
Past participle: wrestled   
-ing form: wrestling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

He wrestled all his life with his feeling of inferiority

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

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

wrestler (combatant who tries to throw opponent to the ground)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I wrestled with this decision for years

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

consider; debate; deliberate; moot; turn over (think about carefully; weigh)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam wants to wrestle with Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

To move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

squirm; twist; worm; wrestle; wriggle; writhe

Context example:

The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace

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

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

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

wrench (make a sudden twisting motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Engage in a wrestling match

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The children wrestled in the garden

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

contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

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

mud-wrestle; mudwrestle (wrestle in mud)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

wrestle (the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat)

wrestling (the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down)

wrestling (the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat)

 Context examples 

And yet I wrestled with myself and could not pull the triggers.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Come on, my enemy; we have yet to wrestle for our lives, but many hard and miserable hours must you endure until that period shall arrive.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He wrestled continually and anxiously with the problem.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Community-associated MRSA happens to people who have close skin-to-skin contact with others, such as athletes involved in football and wrestling.

(MRSA, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

He paused and put his hand to his throat, and I could see, in spite of his collected manner, that he was wrestling against the approaches of the hysteria—“I understood, a drawer...”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It showed me Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other's throat.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The back door was open, and as he came to the foot of the stairs he saw two men wrestling together outside.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He could have settled her with a well-planted blow; but he would not strike: he would only wrestle.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The day had been long and arduous, and he slept soundly and comfortably, though he growled and barked and wrestled with bad dreams.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)