wrestle

verb

1. 1

   To take part in (a wrestling bout or match).

   And novv Ptolemais being to vvreſtle her laſt fall, ſtripped her ſelf of all cumberſome clothes: vvomen, children, aged perſons, vveak folks […] vvere ſent avvay; […]

   Hark thee, friend, […] wilt thou wrestle a fall with me?

   Have we not wrestled a turn before now?

   Where is Kerkuon [Cercyon of Eleusis], the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him to-day.

2. 2

   Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.

   My driver at the second station was a stout girl of twenty, strong enough to wrestle any man, but shy, modest, and gentle.

   Tunisia dug in to frustrate England in the second half but [Harry] Kane was the match-winner with a late header from Harry Maguire's flick, justice being done after referee Wilmar Roldan and the video assistant referee (VAR) had failed to spot him being wrestled to the ground twice in the penalty area.

3. 3

   To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.

   I couldn't wrestle the trunk down the hall.

   And, wrestling both his arms into a gown, / He paused and took a survey up and down.

   And his brother, Robert, beat me to the ground along with Damon, I carried Damon down with me and when I got Damon to the floor I shot him and wrestled his pistol out of his hand and threw it in a corner and after that Robert wrestled my pistol out of my hand and held it on me and I asked what was going on here with you people, I said, 'You are crazy.'

   Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates to their highest level in 22 years and left the door open to further action as they continued their 16-month campaign to wrestle inflation lower by cooling the American economy.

4. 4

   figurativeTo engage in (a contest or struggle).

5. 5

   To throw down (a calf or other livestock animal) for branding.

6. 6

   To grapple or otherwise contend with an opponent in order to throw or force them to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.

   Wreſtell nat with me for I wyll throwe the [thee] on thy backe […]

   [Y]ee gaue their diligẽce [diligence] to lerne to fight, to wriſtle, to leape, to daunce, ⁊ to put at yͤ ſtone: […]

   She [a manatee] woolde oftentymes play and wreſtle vppon the banke with the kynges chamberlens: And eſpecially with a younge man whom the kynge fauoured well, beinge alſo accuſtomed to feede her.

   Actiue they are in all things, whether it be to wraſtle in the games of Olympia, or to fight at Barriers in Paleſtra, able to cary as great burthens as Milo [of Croton], of ſthrength to throwe as bigge ſtones as Turnus, and what not, […]

7. 7

   Followed by with: to move or manipulate something using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.

   It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales.

   But 'tis a thing of saintlier nature, / Amidst her friends of pigmy stature, / To see the maid in youth's fair bloom, / A guardian sister's charge assume, / […] / With her in mimick war they wrestle; / Beneath her twisted robe they nestle; […]

   I've spent this whole morning rassling with that dumb horse, Sam …

   Miss Reba turned to Boon again. "What you been doing? wrassling with hogs?" / "We got in a mudhole back down the road. We drove up. The automobile's outside now."

8. 8

   figurativeTo make one's way or move with some difficulty or effort.

   [S]o great a ſtorme of vvind and raine beat vpon vs that vvee not only loſt our vvay, but our ſelues, and at length vvraſtled to Geer, hauing firſt paſt through the Straits of Mozendram.

   [T]hy Lips, […] their tvvo-leav'd Door / So cloſe they ſhut, that […] not Breath it ſelfe, has povver to bore / Its vvay, but forced is to goe about, / And through the Noſes Sluces vvreſtle out.

   These fires are or were singularly destructive in villages—the flames running from thatch to thatch, and, as they express it, ‘wrastling’ across the intervening spaces.

9. 9

   figurativeFollowed by against or with: to contend, to struggle; to exert effort, to strive.

   Put on the arms of our god⸝ that ye maye ſtonde ſtedfaſt agaynſt the crafty aſſautes off the devyll. For we wreſtle not agaynſt fleſſhe and bloud: but agaynſt ruele⸝ agaynſt power⸝ and agaynſt worldy ruelars of the darcknes of this worlde⸝ agaynſt ſpretuall wickednes in hevenly thyngꝭ [thyngis].

   For kyng Henry [VI], diſcended of the houſe of Lancaſtre, claymyng the croune from kyng Henry the .iiii. his graund father, firſt author of this diuiſion: and Rychard duke of Yorke, as heyre to Lionell, the third ſonne to kyng Edward the third: wreſteled for the game, and ſtroue for the wager.

   And thus go theſe Prelates about to vvreſtle for honour, that it may be reported abroad, that vve breed hereſies againſt ourſelves.

   [T]hey their ſhips in marble ſeas with ores dyd wraſtlyng towe.

10. 10

    archaicTo contend verbally; to argue, to debate, to dispute.

    [B]ecause […] they were loath to wrestle with the people, or force them from dangerous customs, they came from that supine negligence, in tolerating prayer for the dead, to establish a doctrinal point of purgatory; […]

11. 11

    archaicTo twist or wriggle; to writhe.

    But God (vvhen pleaſeth him) doth giue this ſtrength to man, / VVhereby he ſtandeth ſtout; euen like a mightie rocke / Amid the mounting vvaues vvhen Eole [Aeolus] doth vnlocke / Sterne Auſters ſtormie gate, making the vvaters vvraſtle / And ruſh vvith vvrathfull rage againſt the ſturdie caſtle, […]

    He saw the glebe land guiltless of a furrow; / He saw the wild oats wrestle on the hill; / He saw the gopher working in his burrow; / He saw the squirrel scampering at his will;— […]

12. 12

    archaicFollowed by with: to concern or occupy oneself closely, or deal with, a task, etc.

noun

1. 1

   A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.

   [I]n a VVreſtle the Giant [Gogmagog] catching aloft, vvith a terrible hugg broke three of his Ribs: nevertheleſs Corineus enrag'd, heaving him up by main force, and on his Shoulders bearing him to the next high Rock, threvv him headlong all ſhatter'd into the Sea, and left his name on the Cliff, call'd ever ſince Langoëmagog, vvhich is to ſay, the Giants leap.

   Beyond the tilt-yard spread the larger space, / For the strong wrestle and the breathless race; […]

2. 2

   figurativeA situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.

   Both parties in the wrestle professing earnest wishes of peace to us, what have we to do with it except answer earnestly, "Peace, yes certainly," and mind our affairs elsewhere. The British Nation has no concern with that indispensable sorrowful and shameful wrestle now going on everywhere in foreign parts.

   The body politic, which, while it remained in repose, had presented a superficial appearance of health and vigour, was not under the necessity of straining every nerve in a wrestle for life or death, and was immediately found to be unequal to the exertion.

3. 3

   figurativeThe action of contending or struggling.

   War in Italy, universal spasm of wrestle there, being now the expectation of foolish mankind.

Forms

plural

wrestles

past tense

wrestled

past participle

wrestled

present participle

wrestling

third person singular

wrestles