struggle

Noun

• strenuous effort
  • the struggle to get through the crowd exhausted her
    

• an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)
  • the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph--Thomas Paine
    
  • police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs
    

• an energetic attempt to achieve something
  • getting through the crowd was a real struggle
    
  • he fought a battle for recognition
    

Verb

• be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
  • the tribesmen fought each other
    
  • Siblings are always fighting
    
  • Militant groups are contending for control of the country
    

• climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling

• to exert strenuous effort against opposition
  • he struggled to get free from the rope
    

• make a strenuous or labored effort
  • She struggled for years to survive without welfare
    
  • He fought for breath
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  conflict , battle , contend , fight , clamber , scramble , shin , shinny , skin , sputter