I. ˈresəl, ÷ ˈras- verb
( wrestled ; wrestled ; wrestling -s(ə)liŋ ; wrestles )
Etymology: Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen, from Old English wrǣstlian, freq. of wrǣstan to turn, twist, wrest — more at wrest
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to contend by grappling with and striving to trip or throw down an opponent — see wrestling
b. : to combat or overcome an opposing tendency or force, an unworthy psychic drive, or an antagonistic person or group
he wrestled with his soul for a long time — Nicolas Slonimsky
wrestling all his life with a feeling that he must be two different people at the same time — Eleanor Harris
the devilish and the divine wrestle for this boy's soul — Lee Rogow
had to wrestle desperately for a living in a … more competitive economy — C.J.Rolo
c. : to engage in deep or serious thought, consideration, or debate
the engineer who must wrestle with mining, water-supply, or transportation problems — P.E.James
brooding over and wrestling with ideas — M.R.Cohen
wrestling with the difficulties of transforming the reality of experience into the autonomous reality of fiction — Carlos Lynes
d. : to engage in or as if in a violent or determined purposive struggle
stevedores wrestled with their loads — Joseph Wechsberg
a nest of ants wrestling and tugging at a handful of bread crumbs — Norman Mailer
less painful to slip a check into an envelope than wrestle with the Christmas crowds — New Yorker
e. : to pray earnestly
God's Son was wrestling in an agony of prayer — W.F.Hambly
2.
a. : to twist about : writhe , squirm
b. : to proceed or attempt to proceed with labored or strenuous effort
the icebreaker … could smash, slash, and wrestle almost indefinitely through solid pack ice — R.E.Byrd
transitive verb
1.
a. : to engage in (a match, bout, or fall) in wrestling
b. : to wrestle with : seek to throw down in or as if in wrestling
wrestle an alligator
2. : to thrust or carry with an action or an effort like wrestling : move or force by or as if by wrestling
wrestled cotton bales on the levee — H.A.Sinclair
wrestled a kind of manhole from the top of one tank — New Yorker
wrestle the car along gravelly roads — R.M.Hodesh
Synonyms:
tussle , grapple , scuffle : wrestle applies to a struggling for mastery by the use, mainly or solely, of dexterous holds with the hands, arms, or legs; figuratively, it may designate a laborious striving at close quarters for mastery
the perfectionist's instinct for wrestling with a problem until he had shaped it to his mental image — Irving Kolodin
the senate was wrestling with the definition of unfair practices — F.L.Paxson
tussle may suggest a lighter, less arduous contesting or coping with at close quarters
in bed screaming, determined to run away, tussling with my mother and father — Richard Wright
all major presidents have tussled with the Supreme Court — R.A.Billington
grapple may center attention on coming to grips with and striving for a vantage hold calculated to gain one mastery
grappled and fell with his man, and shot him with a pistol — C.S.Forester
a serious intelligence that must grapple with realities and shape them to its will — V.L.Parrington
scuffle may apply to a short, haphazard, and not very serious contest involving confusion, scrambling, and noise
scuffled together, their laughter hooting down the street — Gordon Webber
II. noun
( -s )
: the action or an instance of wrestling
after a lengthy wrestle , he succeeded in extracting a tooth — R.L.Taylor
the metaphysical wrestle with the question of what is reality — Robert Richman
specifically : a struggle between two persons to see which will throw the other down : a wrestling bout