fight
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fytIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for
transitive
To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.
intransitive
To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle etc.
transitive
To conduct or engage in (battle, warfare, a cause, etc.).
intransitive
To strive for something; to campaign or contend for success.
transitive
To try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.
noun
A physical confrontation or combat between two or more people or groups.
The act of fighting; any contest or struggle
A conflict, possibly nonphysical, with opposing ideas or forces; strife.
An occasion of fighting.
uncountable
The will or ability to fight.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for
Used this way, fight is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use fight
- “The fight was on television last night.”noun
- “The team was full of fight.”noun
- “A violent fight over the bill is expected in the Senate.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of fighting.
Someone who fights (or is fighting).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Force or drive back.
A high-speed military or naval airplane designed to destroy enemy aircraft in the air.
A military or naval pilot of fighter planes.
A fixed chair from which a saltwater angler can fight a hooked fish.
A cock bred and trained for fighting.
A French movement during World War II that was organized in London by Charles de Gaulle to fight for the liberation of France from German control and for the restoration of the republic.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.