Sentence:  Dick, who, in serious earnest, was supposed to have considerable natural talents for his profession, and whose vain and sanguine disposition never permitted him to doubt for a moment of ultimate success, threw himself headlong into the crowd which <WSD>jostled</WSD> and struggled for notice and preferment. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To contend or vie in order to acquire something.