Struggle

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body; agony; distress.

2. Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to avert an evil. Macaulay.

3. Contest; contention; strife. An honest might look upon the struggle with indifference. Addison.

Synonyms: Endeavor; effort; contest; labor; difficulty.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.

2. To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle with the waves; to struggle with adversity. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power to add or detract. Lincoln.

3. To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in any kind of difficulty or distress. 'T is wisdom to beware, And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. Dryden.

Synonyms: strive; contend; labor; endeavor.