Strife

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [Archaic] Shak.

2. Exertion or contention for superiority; contest of emulation, either by intellectual or physical efforts. Doting about questions and strifes of words. 1 Tim. vi. 4. Thus gods contended -- noble strife -Who most should ease the wants of life. Congreve.

3. Altercation; violent contention; fight; battle. Twenty of them fought in this black strife. Shak. These vows, thus granted, raised a strife above Betwixt the god of war and queen of love. Dryden.

4. That which is contended against; occasion of contest. [Obs.] "Lamenting her unlucky strife." Spenser.

Synonyms: Contest; struggle; quarrel. See Contention.