strife
nounattested in dialogue
- //stɹaɪf//
Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work.
noun
- 1
Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work.
- 2
Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
Hee is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions, and ſtrifes of wordes,[…]
- 3
Bitter conflict, sometimes violent.
A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes.
- 4
A trouble of any kind.
- 5
obsoleteThat which is contended against; occasion of contest.
He ſpide lamenting her unlucky ſtrife,
The street cleaning machine, an English invention, which we described in No. 48, vol 2, Scientific American, was recently tested in a strife with hand labor, in Manchester, and it did better work and as much, with only the attendance of two men, than thirty men sweeping and using hoes and shovels.
Etymology
From Middle English strif, stryf, striffe, from Old French estrif, noun derived from estriver, from Frankish *strīban; compare Dutch strijven. More at strive.
Forms
- plural
- strifes