wrestle
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen (“to engage in grappling combat or sport, struggle, wrestle; to twist and turn, squirm, wriggle, writhe; (figurative) to contend, grapple with, struggle”), from Old English wrǣstlian (“to wrestle”), a frequentative form of wrǣstan (“to twist, wrest”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną (“to turn; to twist, wrest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). By surface analysis, wrest + -le (frequentative suffix). Probably related to wraxle (UK, dialectal, archaic).
The noun is derived from the verb.
cognates
* Middle Dutch worstelen, wrastelen (“to wrestle”) (modern Dutch worstelen)
* Middle Low German wrostelen (“to wrestle”) (German Low German frösseln, wrösseln)
* Saterland Frisian wrosselje (“to contend, wrestle”)
* West Frisian wrakselje (“to wrestle”)
Inflected forms:
form: wrestles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: wrestling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: wrestlest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: wrestledst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: wrestles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: wrestleth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: wrestle
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: wrestling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: wrestled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: rassle
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: wrassle
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: wrastle
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: wrostle
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: wrestles
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To take part in (a wrestling bout or match).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: And novv Ptolemais being to vvreſtle her laſt fall, ſtripped her ſelf of all cumberſome clothes: vvomen, children, aged perſons, vveak folks […] vvere ſent avvay; […]
Hark thee, friend, […] wilt thou wrestle a fall with me?
Have we not wrestled a turn before now?
Where is Kerkuon [Cercyon of Eleusis], the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him to-day.
gloss: Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: My driver at the second station was a stout girl of twenty, strong enough to wrestle any man, but shy, modest, and gentle.
Tunisia dug in to frustrate England in the second half but [Harry] Kane was the match-winner with a late header from Harry Maguire's flick, justice being done after referee Wilmar Roldan and the video assistant referee (VAR) had failed to spot him being wrestled to the ground twice in the penalty area.
gloss: To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I couldn't wrestle the trunk down the hall.
And, wrestling both his arms into a gown, / He paused and took a survey up and down.
And his brother, Robert, beat me to the ground along with Damon, I carried Damon down with me and when I got Damon to the floor I shot him and wrestled his pistol out of his hand and threw it in a corner and after that Robert wrestled my pistol out of my hand and held it on me and I asked what was going on here with you people, I said, 'You are crazy.'
Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates to their highest level in 22 years and left the door open to further action as they continued their 16-month campaign to wrestle inflation lower by cooling the American economy.
gloss: To engage in (a contest or struggle).
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
gloss: To throw down (a calf or other livestock animal) for branding.
pos: verb
tags: US
Western
transitive
gloss: To grapple or otherwise contend with an opponent in order to throw or force them to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Wreſtell nat with me for I wyll throwe the [thee] on thy backe […]
[Y]ee gaue their diligẽce [diligence] to lerne to fight, to wriſtle, to leape, to daunce, ⁊ to put at yͤ ſtone: […]
She [a manatee] woolde oftentymes play and wreſtle vppon the banke with the kynges chamberlens: And eſpecially with a younge man whom the kynge fauoured well, beinge alſo accuſtomed to feede her.
Actiue they are in all things, whether it be to wraſtle in the games of Olympia, or to fight at Barriers in Paleſtra, able to cary as great burthens as Milo [of Croton], of ſthrength to throwe as bigge ſtones as Turnus, and what not, […]
[H]eere at the Pythique games, the manner is to bring in certeine champions at every ſeverall game or plaie: firſt boies to vvreſtle, and after them, men-vvreſtlers alſo; […]
VVe vvraſtle not (after your Shepheards guiſe) / For painted Sheep-hooks, or ſuch pettie Prize, / Or for a Cage, a Lamb, or bread and cheeſe: / The Vanquiſht Head muſt be the Victors Fees.
And that you may be farther corroborated in your belief, conſider the manifold Stories of Apparitions, and hovv many Spectres have been ſeen or felt to vvraſtle, pull or tug vvith a man: vvhich, if they vvere a mere Congeries of Atomes, vvere impoſſible.
I am novv a laying in the fourth vveek, and I am ſtrong enough even to vvraſtle.
I am confident, were there a scene written, wherein Pinkethman should break his leg by wrestling with Bullock, and Dickey come in to set it, without one word said but what should be according to the exact rules of surgery in making this extension and binding up the leg, the whole house should be in a roar of applause at the dissembled anguish of the patient, the help given by him who threw him down, and the handy address and arch looks of the surgeon.
He that vvreſtles vvith us ſtrengthens our nerves, and ſharpens our ſkill. Our antagoniſt is our helper.
[H]e [Kerkuon or Cercyon of Eleusis] challenges all comers to wrestle with him, for he is the best wrestler in all Attica, and overthrows all who come; and those whom he overthrows he murders miserably, and his palace-court is full of their bones.
gloss: Followed by with: to move or manipulate something using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales.
But 'tis a thing of saintlier nature, / Amidst her friends of pigmy stature, / To see the maid in youth's fair bloom, / A guardian sister's charge assume, / […] / With her in mimick war they wrestle; / Beneath her twisted robe they nestle; […]
I've spent this whole morning rassling with that dumb horse, Sam …
Miss Reba turned to Boon again. "What you been doing? wrassling with hogs?" / "We got in a mudhole back down the road. We drove up. The automobile's outside now."
gloss: To make one's way or move with some difficulty or effort.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: [S]o great a ſtorme of vvind and raine beat vpon vs that vvee not only loſt our vvay, but our ſelues, and at length vvraſtled to Geer, hauing firſt paſt through the Straits of Mozendram.
[T]hy Lips, […] their tvvo-leav'd Door / So cloſe they ſhut, that […] not Breath it ſelfe, has povver to bore / Its vvay, but forced is to goe about, / And through the Noſes Sluces vvreſtle out.
These fires are or were singularly destructive in villages—the flames running from thatch to thatch, and, as they express it, ‘wrastling’ across the intervening spaces.
gloss: Followed by against or with: to contend, to struggle; to exert effort, to strive.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: Put on the arms of our god⸝ that ye maye ſtonde ſtedfaſt agaynſt the crafty aſſautes off the devyll. For we wreſtle not agaynſt fleſſhe and bloud: but agaynſt ruele⸝ agaynſt power⸝ and agaynſt worldy ruelars of the darcknes of this worlde⸝ agaynſt ſpretuall wickednes in hevenly thyngꝭ [thyngis].
For kyng Henry [VI], diſcended of the houſe of Lancaſtre, claymyng the croune from kyng Henry the .iiii. his graund father, firſt author of this diuiſion: and Rychard duke of Yorke, as heyre to Lionell, the third ſonne to kyng Edward the third: wreſteled for the game, and ſtroue for the wager.
And thus go theſe Prelates about to vvreſtle for honour, that it may be reported abroad, that vve breed hereſies againſt ourſelves.
[T]hey their ſhips in marble ſeas with ores dyd wraſtlyng towe.
[I]f it be a difficult piece of vvorke to vvreſtle vvith the bellie, vvhich (as Cato [the Elder] vvas vvont to ſay) hath no eares; vve muſt vvorke another feat and device vvith it; namely, by obſerving the quality of the viands, to make the quantity more light and leſſe offenſive: […]
[…] I vvould haue the Reader to remember, that I haue in this vvorke vvraſtled vvith that envious and ravenous enemy, Time, […]
Like errand Knights, our valiant vvits muſt vvraſtle / To free our Ladyes from the inchanted Caſtle.
[H]e [the Earl of Essex] vvas to vvraſtle vvith a Queens declyning, or rather vvith her very ſetting Age (as vve may term it,) vvhich, beſides other reſpects, is commonly even of it ſelfe the more umbratious and apprehenſive, as for the moſt part all Horizons are charged vvith certain Vapours tovvards their Evening.
Venice vvreſtleth vvith the Turk, and is like to loſe her Maidenhead unto him, unleſs other Chriſtian Princes look to it in time: […]
[…] I look on yon unfortunate Iſland, as if one look upon a Ship toſs'd up and dovvn in diſtreſſe of vvind and vveather, by a furious tempeſt, vvhich the more ſhe tugs and vvraſtles vvith the foamie vvaves of the angry Ocean, the more the fury of the ſtorme encreaſeth, and puts her in danger of ſhipvvrack; […]
[W]e have prayed, and wrestled, and petitioned, for an offering to atone the sins of the congregation,, and, lo! the very head of the offence is delivered into our hand.
You will find near this place, if you follow not too tardily, a dead hare; eat, and be refreshed. Come on, my enemy; we have yet to wrestle for our lives, but many hard and miserable hours must you endure, until that period shall arrive.
Thou [Jesus] wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all; / And rather wouldst Thou wrestle with strong pain, / Than overcloud thy soul, / So clear in agony.
These martyr souls wrestle for the truth, which they have a forecast of; they suffer for the God whom they love, and their whole life is the school of eternity.
As to the mother, she spent the night like Jacob at Peniel. Till break of day, she wrestled with God in earnest prayer.
I had to wrestle with my self-respect when I submitted to be drawn to you in spite of Mr. Wrayburn. You may imagine how low my self-respect lies now.
gloss: To contend verbally; to argue, to debate, to dispute.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
figuratively
intransitive
examples: [B]ecause […] they were loath to wrestle with the people, or force them from dangerous customs, they came from that supine negligence, in tolerating prayer for the dead, to establish a doctrinal point of purgatory; […]
gloss: To twist or wriggle; to writhe.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
figuratively
intransitive
examples: But God (vvhen pleaſeth him) doth giue this ſtrength to man, / VVhereby he ſtandeth ſtout; euen like a mightie rocke / Amid the mounting vvaues vvhen Eole [Aeolus] doth vnlocke / Sterne Auſters ſtormie gate, making the vvaters vvraſtle / And ruſh vvith vvrathfull rage againſt the ſturdie caſtle, […]
He saw the glebe land guiltless of a furrow; / He saw the wild oats wrestle on the hill; / He saw the gopher working in his burrow; / He saw the squirrel scampering at his will;— […]
gloss: Followed by with: to concern or occupy oneself closely, or deal with, a task, etc.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
figuratively
intransitive
examples: Our hope is, that the yong Studient, vvho heretofore meeting at the firſt, and vvraſtling vvith as difficult termes and matter, as in many yeares after, vvas at the firſt diſcouraged (as many haue bin) may be reading theſe Inſtitutes, haue the difficultie and darkeneſſe both of the Matter and of the Termes and VVords of Art in the beginnings of his Studie facilitated, and explained vnto him, to the end hee may proceed in his Studie cheerefully, and vvith delight; […]
gloss: A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: [I]n a VVreſtle the Giant [Gogmagog] catching aloft, vvith a terrible hugg broke three of his Ribs: nevertheleſs Corineus enrag'd, heaving him up by main force, and on his Shoulders bearing him to the next high Rock, threvv him headlong all ſhatter'd into the Sea, and left his name on the Cliff, call'd ever ſince Langoëmagog, vvhich is to ſay, the Giants leap.
Beyond the tilt-yard spread the larger space, / For the strong wrestle and the breathless race; […]
gloss: A situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
uncountable
examples: Both parties in the wrestle professing earnest wishes of peace to us, what have we to do with it except answer earnestly, "Peace, yes certainly," and mind our affairs elsewhere. The British Nation has no concern with that indispensable sorrowful and shameful wrestle now going on everywhere in foreign parts.
The body politic, which, while it remained in repose, had presented a superficial appearance of health and vigour, was not under the necessity of straining every nerve in a wrestle for life or death, and was immediately found to be unequal to the exertion.
gloss: The action of contending or struggling.
pos: noun
tags: also
figuratively
uncountable
examples: War in Italy, universal spasm of wrestle there, being now the expectation of foolish mankind.
Derived words: arm-wrestle
Indian wrestle
lip wrestle
mud-wrestle
outwrestle
overwrestle
warsle
wrestle with
wrestle with a pig
wrestling
thumb wrestle
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: боря се
roman: borja se
lang: Finnish
word: punnertaa