Link Centre Dictionary

wrestle

UK/ˈɹɛsl̩/ US/ˈɹɛs(ə)l/ fairly common us
verb (4) noun (1)

verb

1.

combat to overcome an opposing tendency or force

  • “He wrestled all his life with his feeling of inferiority”
2.

engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate

  • “I wrestled with this decision for years”
3.

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

  • “The prisoner writhed in discomfort”
  • “The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt”
Synonyms
4.

engage in a wrestling match

  • “The children wrestled in the garden”

noun

1.

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

  • “they had a fierce wrestle”
  • “we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully”
Synonyms

Origin

The verb is derived from Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen (“to engage in grappling combat or sport, struggle, wrestle; to twist and turn, squirm, wriggle, writhe; (figurative) to contend, grapple with, struggle”), from Old English wrǣstlian (“to wrestle”), a frequentative form of wrǣstan (“to twist, wrest”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną (“to turn; to twist, wrest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). By surface analysis, wrest + -le (frequentative suffix). Probably related to wraxle (UK, dialectal, archaic). The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Middle Dutch worstelen, wrastelen (“to wrestle”) (modern Dutch worstelen) * Middle Low German wrostelen (“to wrestle”) (German Low German frösseln, wrösseln) * Saterland Frisian wrosselje (“to contend, wrestle”) * West Frisian wrakselje (“to wrestle”)

Phrases

  • Indian wrestle
  • lip wrestle
  • thumb wrestle
  • wrestle with
  • wrestle with a pig

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.