I. strug ‧ gle 1 W3 /ˈstrʌɡ ə l/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
1 . to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult
struggle to do something
She’s struggling to bring up a family alone.
struggle with
The airline is struggling with high costs.
struggle for
Millions of people are struggling for survival.
struggle against
Firms are struggling against a prolonged recession.
2 .
a) to fight someone who is attacking you or holding you, especially so that you can escape
struggle with
James was hit in the mouth as he struggled with the burglars.
struggle to do something
She struggled to free herself.
b) if two people struggle, they fight each other for something, especially something one of them is holding
struggle for
They struggled for possession of the gun.
3 . to move somewhere with great difficulty
struggle up/out of/into etc
Walkers were struggling up the dusty track.
4 . to be likely to fail, even though you are trying very hard:
The team has been struggling all season.
a struggling artist/writer/business
struggle on phrasal verb
to continue doing something that you find very difficult or tiring:
He struggled on despite his condition.
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THESAURUS
▪ try to take action in order to do something that you may not be able to do:
I tried to explain what was wrong.
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He tries hard in class, but he’s finding the work difficult.
▪ attempt to try to do something, especially something difficult. Attempt is more formal than try and is used especially in written English:
Any prisoner who attempts to escape will be shot.
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He was attempting to climb one of the world’s highest mountains.
▪ do your best to try as hard as you can to do something:
We will do our best to help them.
▪ make an effort to do something to try to do something, when you find this difficult:
It is worth making an effort to master these skills.
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She made a big effort to be nice to him.
▪ struggle to try very hard to do something that is very difficult, especially for a long time:
She’s still struggling to give up smoking.
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Many of these families are struggling to survive.
▪ strive formal to try very hard to achieve something:
The company must constantly strive for greater efficiency.
▪ endeavour British English , endeavor American English /ɪnˈdevə $ -ər/ formal to try hard to do something:
Each employee shall endeavour to provide customers with the best service possible.
▪ have a go/try informal to try to do something, especially when you are not sure that you will succeed:
I’m not very good at fixing taps, but I’ll have a go.
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Do you want to have another try?
▪ see if you can do something spoken to try to do something – used when offering to do something, or suggesting that someone should do something:
I’ll see if I can get you a ticket.
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See if you can persuade her to come.
II. struggle 2 S3 W3 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a long hard fight to get freedom, political rights etc
struggle for
a struggle for survival
a power struggle between forces favoring and opposing change
2 . a long period of time in which you try to deal with a difficult problem
struggle with/against
She spoke of her struggles with shyness.
3 . a fight between two people for something, or an attempt by one person to escape from the other:
Police said there were no signs of a struggle.
4 . be a struggle (for somebody) if something is a struggle, you find it very difficult to do
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THESAURUS
■ when people try to achieve something
▪ fight the process in which people try to stop something bad from happening or to improve a situation:
Schools have an important part to play in the fight against drugs.
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women’s fight for equality
▪ battle a fight to change a situation or deal with a problem in society:
The battle against racial discrimination is not over.
▪ campaign a planned series of actions intended to achieve something:
Motoring organizations started a campaign for safer roads.
▪ struggle a long, hard fight for freedom, independence, equal rights etc:
Nkrumah led the people in their struggle for independence.
▪ crusade someone’s fight against something they think is morally wrong:
She intends to continue her crusade against sex and violence on TV.