Word.ws English Dictionary

fight

/faɪt//fəɪt/

fight verb: to engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.

fight: to engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with
Image: Adriaen Brouwer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

fight (third-person singular simple present fights, present participle fighting, simple past fought or (dated) fit, past participle fought or (dated) fit or (archaic) foughten)

  1. (transitive) To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.
    • My grandfather fought the Nazis in World War II.
  2. (transitive) To conduct or engage in (battle, warfare, a cause, etc.).
    • Our soldiers fought the battle just over that hill.
    • I have fought a good fight.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Timothy 4:7
  3. (intransitive) To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle, etc.
    • A wounded animal will fight tooth and nail; relentless, savage and murderous.
  4. (reciprocal) To contend in physical conflict with each other, either singly or in war, battle, etc.
    • The two boxers have been fighting for more than half an hour.
  5. (causative) To cause to fight; to manage or manoeuvre in a fight.
    • And so we made their grave where they should lie
      Close side by side, as they had fought their tank
      Through every fight, arm touching arm.
      We made it deep, that nothing of the conflict they had left above
      Should break into their peace.1953, Revd. Waldo E. L. Smith, What Time the Tempest: An Army Chaplain's Story, page 244
    • to fight cocks; to fight one’s ship
  6. (intransitive) To strive for something; to campaign or contend for success.
    • He fought for the Democrats in the last election.
    • Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern. Then, for a jiffy, I hung on and fought for breath.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  7. (transitive) To try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.
    • The government pledged to fight corruption.
    • I fought a sneeze as Max took my hand and led me into the chapel.2014, Ann Aguirre, The Shape of My Heart, page 42
  8. (intransitive) Of colours or other design elements: to clash; to fail to harmonize.
    • The higher the saturation, the more the colors fight, and the more users will be looking at your design instead of your content.2013, Ian G. Clifton, Android User Interface Design

Noun

fight (countable and uncountable, plural fights)

  1. An occasion of fighting.
    • One of them got stuck in a chokehold and got stabbed to death during the fight.
  2. (archaic) A battle between opposing armies.
  3. A physical confrontation or combat between two or more people or groups.
    • Watch your language! Are you looking for a fight?
  4. A boxing or martial arts match.
    • I’m going to Nick’s to watch the big fight tomorrow night.
  5. A conflict, possibly nonphysical, with opposing ideas or forces; strife.
    • I’ll put up a fight to save this company.
    • ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
  6. (uncountable) The will or ability to fight.
    • That little guy has a bit of fight in him after all. As soon as he saw the size of his opponent, all the fight went out of him.
  7. (obsolete) A screen for the combatants in ships; an arming.
    • Who ever ſaw a noble ſight, / That never view'd a brave Sea Fight: / Hang up your bloody Colours in the Aire, / Up with your Fights, and your Nettings prepare, / Your Merry Mates chear, with a luſty bold ſpright, / Now each Man his brindice, and then to the Fight, […]1673 May (first performance), John Dryden, Amboyna. A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1673, →OCLC, Act III, page 31

fight meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

fight in Hindi

(intransitive) to contend in physical conflict
लड़ना laṛnā, झगड़ना jhagaṛnā
battle
युद्ध yuddh, लड़ाई laṛāī, झगड़ा jhagṛā, रण raṇ

fight in Tamil

battle
சண்டை caṇṭai

fight in Marathi

(intransitive) to contend in physical conflict
लढणे laḍhṇe, लढा देणे laḍhā deṇe, झुंजणे jhuñjṇe, झुंज देणे jhuñja deṇe
occasion of fighting
लढाई laḍhāī
battle
लढाई laḍhāī

fight in Urdu

(intransitive) to contend in physical conflict
لڑنا laṛnā, جھگڑنا jhagaṛnā
More languagesFewer languages
fight in Bengali
লড়া loṛa, সংগ্রাম śoṅgram, বাজাবাজি bajabaji
fight in Telugu
కొట్లాట koṭlāṭa, పోరు pōru, పోరాటం pōrāṭaṁ, పోరాడు pōrāḍu
fight in Malayalam
പോരാടുക pōrāṭuka, പോരുതുക pōrutuka, പൊരുതുക porutuka, പോരടിക്കുക pōraṭikkuka
fight in Kannada
ಹೋರಾಡು hōrāḍu, ಹೋರಾಟ hōrāṭa, ಅಂಕ aṅka
fight in Punjabi
ਲੜਨਾ laṛnā, لڑنا laṛnā, ਜੂਝਣਾ jūjhṇā
fight in Gujarati
લડવું laṛvũ, ઝઘડવું jhaghaḍvũ, લડાઈ laḍāī, ઝઘડો jhaghṛo
fight in Odia
ଜୁଜ୍ଝିବା jujjhibā, ଯୁଦ୍ଧ କରିବା juddha karibā, ଲଢ଼ିବା laṛhibā
fight in Sanskrit
युध्यते yudhyate, युद्ध yuddha
fight in Sinhala
සටන්කරනවා saṭankaranawā
fight in Assamese
যুঁজা zũza
fight in Nepali
लड्नु laḍnu, झगडा jhagaḍā, लडाईं laḍāīṃ
fight in Pashto
جګړه jəgə́ṛa, جنګول jangawə́l, جګړول jagṛawə́l, مجادله mujādalá
fight in Tagalog
awayin, warlahin
fight in Arabic
عَارَكَ ʕāraka, قَاتَلَ qātala, تَعَارَكَ taʕāraka, تَقَاتَلَ taqātala
fight in Indonesian
kelahi, tarung
fight in Persian
جنگیدن jangidan, مبارزه کردن mobâreze kardan, تلاش کردن talâš kardan, مقابله کردن moqâbele kardan
fight in Thai
ต่อสู้ dtɔ̀ɔ-sûu, สู้ sûu, รบ róp, การต่อสู้ gaan-dtɔ̀ɔ-sûu
fight in Vietnamese
chiến đấu, trận
fight in Myanmar
ရန်ဖြစ် ranhprac
Kashmiri
لَڑُن laḍun, لَڑٲے laḍạ̄y, جٔگڑٕ jạgḍụ, جَنٛگ jang

Examples of fight in a sentence

  • Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 6:12:
  • was left to fight his way through the world.1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches...
  • [Edmund] Burke continued to fight for liberty later on in life.2014 July 5, “Freedom fighter”, in The Economist, volume 412, number 8894, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023:
  • But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs.2013 August 10, “A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023:

All 40 example sentences with fight

Synonyms of fight

All synonyms of fight

Forms of fight

Verb
third-person singular presentfights
present participlefighting
pastfought
past participlefought
past (dated)fit
past participle (dated)fit
past participle (archaic)foughten
second-person singular present (archaic)fightest
second-person singular past (archaic)foughtest
third-person singular present (archaic)fighteth
Noun
pluralfights

Past tense of fight: fought

Plural of fight: fights

Origin of fight

From Middle English fighten (“to fight”), from Old English feohtan (“to fight, combat, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan (“to fight”), from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to comb, tease, shear, struggle with”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear”). Cognate with Scots fecht (“to fight”), West Frisian fjochtsje, fjuchte (“to fight”), Dutch vechten (“to fight”), Low German fechten (“to fight”), German fechten (“to fence”), Danish fægte (“to fence, to fight (using blade weapons)”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk fekte (“to fence”), Swedish fäkta (“to fence, to fight (using blade weapons), to wave vigorously (and carelessly) with one's arms”), Latin pectō (“comb, thrash”, verb), Albanian pjek (“to hit, strive, fight”), Ancient Greek πέκω (pékō, “comb or card wool”, verb). Related also to Old English feht (“wool, shaggy pelt, fleece”).

From Middle English fight, feyght, fiȝt, fecht, from Old English feoht, ġefeoht (“fight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan (“to fight”), from Proto-Germanic *fehtą, *gafehtą (“fight, struggle”), from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to struggle with”). Cognate with Dutch gevecht (“fight”), German Gefecht (“fight”).

Words formed from fight

Phrases with fight

36 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with fight

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about fight

What does fight mean?
Fight means to engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.
What is fight in Hindi?
Fight in Hindi is लड़ना (laṛnā), झगड़ना (jhagaṛnā), युद्ध (yuddh). See Fight meaning in Hindi.
How do you use fight in a sentence?
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
What part of speech is fight?
Fight can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce fight?
Fight is pronounced /faɪt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of fight?
The past tense of fight is fought.

Words near fight in the dictionary

  1. figgy puddings
  2. figgy-dowdie
  3. figgy-dowdy
  4. figgyhobbin
  5. Figheldean
  6. fight
  7. fight a losing battle
  8. fight a rearguard action
  9. fight back
  10. fight bite
  11. fight bites

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fight (page history and authors); বাজাবাজি (Bengali) (page history and authors); కయ్యంబు (Telugu) (page history and authors); അടി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಅಂಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors); لڑنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઝઘડવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଜୁଜ୍ଝିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); සටන්කරනවා (Sinhala) (page history and authors); جنګول (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-fight.ogg, En-us-fight.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.