Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage


1 verb
strug‧gle1 [intransitive]
1 to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult
struggle to do something
She's struggling to bring up a family alone.
struggle with
The airline is struggling with high costs.
struggle for
Millions of people are struggling for survival.
struggle against
Firms are struggling against a prolonged recession.
a) to fight someone who is attacking you or holding you, especially so that you can escape
struggle with
James was hit in the mouth as he struggled with the burglars.
struggle to do something
She struggled to free herself.
b) if two people struggle, they fight each other for something, especially something one of them is holding
struggle for
They struggled for possession of the gun.
3 to move somewhere with great difficulty
struggle up/out of/into etc
Walkers were struggling up the dusty track.
4 to be likely to fail, even though you are trying very hard:
The team has been struggling all season.

struggle on

phrasal verb
to continue doing something that you find very difficult or tiring:
He struggled on despite his condition.

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