STRUGGLE, verb intransitive [This word may be formed on the root of stretch, right, etc. which signifies to strain; or more directly on the same elements in Latin , to wrinkle.] 1. Properly, to strive, or to make efforts with a twisting or with contortions of the body. Hence, 2. To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend; as, to struggle to save life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle against the stream; to struggle with adversity. 3. To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress. Tis wisdom to beware, and better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. STRUGGLE, noun 1. Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avoid an evil; properly, a violent effort with contortions of the body. 2. Contest; contention; strife. An honest man might look upon the struggle with indifference. 3. Agony; contortions of extreme distress.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI