struggle (redirected from struggled)

give up the fight and give up the struggle 

1. Lit. to quit fighting; to stop trying to do something. Don't give up the fight. Keep trying. Mary refused to give up the struggle.

2. Fig. to give up and die. At the end of months of pain, she gave up the fight. In the end, he lost interest in life and just gave up the struggle.

See also: fight, give, up

put up a fight and put up a struggle

to make a struggle, a fight, etc. (Fixed order.) Did he put up a fight? No, he only put up a bit of a struggle.

See also: fight, put, up

struggle against someone or something

to strive or battle against someone or something. There is no point in struggling against me. I will win out. He struggled against the disease for a year before he died.

See also: against

struggle along (with someone or something)

to make do as well as one can with someone or something. I really need someone who can work faster, but I'll struggle along with Walter. We struggled along the best we could.

See also: along

struggle along under something

to make do as well as one can under a particular burden. I will have to struggle along under these poor conditions for quite a while. I am sorry you have to struggle along under such burdens.

See also: along

struggle for something

to strive to obtain something. I was struggling for a law degree when I won the lottery. I had to struggle for everything that came my way.

struggle on with something

to make do as well as one can with something. I will have to struggle on with the car that I have. We will struggle on with what we have, hoping for better someday.

struggle through (something)

to get through something in the best way possible. I am going to struggle through this dull book to the very end. The course was dull, but I struggled through.

See also: through

struggle to do something

to strive or battle to do something. She struggled hard to meet her deadlines. We had to struggle to make ends meet.

struggle to the death 

1. Lit. a bitter struggle ending in death. The wolf and the elk fought in a struggle to the death.

2. Fig. a serious problem with someone or something; a difficult challenge. I had a terrible time getting my car started. It was a struggle to the death, but it finally started.

See also: death

struggle with someone or something

to fight or battle with someone or something. Fred struggled with Tom for a while and finally gave in. Tom struggled with the disease for a while and finally succumbed to it.

struggle with someone (for something)

to fight with someone to obtain something. Max struggled with Lefty for the gun, and it went off. Timmy struggled with Bobby for the bicycle, and finally David took it away from both of them.

uphill battle and uphill struggle

Fig. a hard struggle. Convincing the senator to see our point of view was an uphill battle, but we finally succeeded.

See also: battle, uphill

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an uphill battle/fight/struggle  also an uphill job/task

if something you are trying to do is an uphill struggle, it is very difficult, often because other people are causing problems for you Environmentalists face an uphill struggle convincing people to use their cars less. We're trying to expand our business, but it's an uphill battle.

See also: battle, uphill