strife

Noun

strife (countable and uncountable, plural strifes)

1. Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work.
2. Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means.
   • From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
     A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
     Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
     Do with their death bury their parents' strife.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • Hee is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions, and ſtrifes of wordes,[…]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 6:4
3. Bitter conflict, sometimes violent.
   • A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes.1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvii

   Synonyms:

   altercation, contention, discord, wrangle

4. (colloquial) A trouble of any kind.
5. (obsolete) That which is contended against; occasion of contest.
   • He ſpide lamenting her unlucky ſtrife,1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
   • The street cleaning machine, an English invention, which we described in No. 48, vol 2, Scientific American, was recently tested in a strife with hand labor, in Manchester, and it did better work and as much, with only the attendance of two men, than thirty men sweeping and using hoes and shovels.1847, editorial staff, “Street Cleaning Machine”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 68