contend

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Related to contends: condoning, eludes, exemplified

con·tend

(kən-tĕnd′)

v. con·tend·ed, con·tend·ing, con·tends

v.intr.

1. To strive in opposition or against difficulties; struggle: armies contending for control of territory; had to contend with long lines at the airport.

2. To strive in competition, as in a race; vie: two runners contending for the lead.

3. To strive in controversy or debate; dispute.

v.tr.

To assert or maintain: The defense contended that the evidence was inadmissible.

[Middle English contenden, from Latin contendere : com-, com- + tendere, to stretch, strive; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

con·tend′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

contend

(kənˈtɛnd)

1. (often foll by: with) to struggle in rivalry, battle, etc; vie

2. to argue earnestly; debate

3. (tr; may take a clause as object) to assert or maintain

[C15: from Latin contendere to strive, from com- with + tendere to stretch, aim]

conˈtender n

conˈtendingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•tend

(kənˈtɛnd)

v.i.

1. to struggle or vie in opposition or rivalry; compete: to contend for first prize.

2. to strive in debate; dispute.

v.t.

3. to assert or maintain earnestly: She contended that taxes were too high.

[1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French contendre < Latin contendere to compete, strive, draw tight =con- con- + tendere to stretch]

con•tend′er, n.

con•tend′ing•ly, adv.

syn: See compete.

contend

Past participle: contended
Gerund: contending

Imperative
contend
contend

Present
I contend
you contend
he/she/it contends
we contend
you contend
they contend

Preterite
I contended
you contended
he/she/it contended
we contended
you contended
they contended

Present Continuous
I am contending
you are contending
he/she/it is contending
we are contending
you are contending
they are contending

Present Perfect
I have contended
you have contended
he/she/it has contended
we have contended
you have contended
they have contended

Past Continuous
I was contending
you were contending
he/she/it was contending
we were contending
you were contending
they were contending

Past Perfect
I had contended
you had contended
he/she/it had contended
we had contended
you had contended
they had contended

Future
I will contend
you will contend
he/she/it will contend
we will contend
you will contend
they will contend

Future Perfect
I will have contended
you will have contended
he/she/it will have contended
we will have contended
you will have contended
they will have contended

Future Continuous
I will be contending
you will be contending
he/she/it will be contending
we will be contending
you will be contending
they will be contending

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been contending
you have been contending
he/she/it has been contending
we have been contending
you have been contending
they have been contending

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been contending
you will have been contending
he/she/it will have been contending
we will have been contending
you will have been contending
they will have been contending

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been contending
you had been contending
he/she/it had been contending
we had been contending
you had been contending
they had been contending

Conditional
I would contend
you would contend
he/she/it would contend
we would contend
you would contend
they would contend

Past Conditional
I would have contended
you would have contended
he/she/it would have contended
we would have contended
you would have contended
they would have contended

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	contend - maintain or assert; "He contended that Communism had no future" postulate claim - assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing; "He claimed that he killed the burglar"
	2.	contend - have an argument about something argue, debate, fence stickle - dispute or argue stubbornly (especially minor points) spar - fight verbally; "They were sparring all night" bicker, brabble, pettifog, squabble, quibble, niggle - argue over petty things; "Let's not quibble over pennies" altercate, argufy, quarrel, scrap, dispute - have a disagreement over something; "We quarreled over the question as to who discovered America"; "These two fellows are always scrapping over something" oppose - be against; express opposition to; "We oppose the ban on abortion" converse, discourse - carry on a conversation
	3.	contend - to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation; "They contested the outcome of the race" contest, repugn oppose - be against; express opposition to; "We oppose the ban on abortion" challenge, dispute, gainsay - take exception to; "She challenged his claims"
	4.	contend - come to terms with; "We got by on just a gallon of gas"; "They made do on half a loaf of bread every day" get by, grapple, make do, cope, manage, deal, make out act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" extemporize, improvise - manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand; "after the hurricane destroyed our house, we had to improvise for weeks" fend - try to manage without help; "The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died" hack, cut - be able to manage or manage successfully; "I can't hack it anymore"; "she could not cut the long days in the office" rub along, scrape along, scrape by, scratch along, squeak by, squeeze by - manage one's existence barely; "I guess I can squeeze by on this lousy salary" cope with, match, meet - satisfy or fulfill; "meet a need"; "this job doesn't match my dreams"
	5.	contend - compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others compete, vie try for, go for - make an attempt at achieving something; "She tried for the Olympics" play - participate in games or sport; "We played hockey all afternoon"; "play cards"; "Pele played for the Brazilian teams in many important matches" run off - decide (a contest or competition) by a runoff run - compete in a race; "he is running the Marathon this year"; "let's race and see who gets there first" rival - be the rival of, be in competition with; "we are rivaling for first place in the race" emulate - compete with successfully; approach or reach equality with; "This artist's drawings cannot emulate his water colors" rival, equal, match, touch - be equal to in quality or ability; "Nothing can rival cotton for durability"; "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues"; "Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents"
	6.	contend - be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant groups are contending for control of the country" fight, struggle bear down - exert full strength; "The pitcher bore down" fistfight - fight with the fists; "The man wanted to fist-fight" join battle - engage in a conflict; "The battle over health care reform was joined" tug - struggle in opposition; "She tugged and wrestled with her conflicts" fight down, oppose, fight, fight back, defend - fight against or resist strongly; "The senator said he would oppose the bill"; "Don't fight it!" get back, settle - get one's revenge for a wrong or an injury; "I finally settled with my old enemy" fight back - defend oneself battle, combat - battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq"; "We must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they battled over the budget" war - make or wage war attack, assail - launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week" duel - fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman; "In the 19th century, men often dueled over small matters" joust - joust against somebody in a tournament by fighting on horseback chickenfight, chicken-fight - fight while sitting on somebody's shoulders tourney - engage in a tourney feud - carry out a feud; "The two professors have been feuding for years" skirmish - engage in a skirmish bandy - exchange blows fence - fight with fencing swords box - engage in a boxing match spar - fight with spurs; "the gamecocks were sparring" tussle, scuffle - fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters; "the drunken men started to scuffle" wrestle - engage in a wrestling match; "The children wrestled in the garden" wage, engage - carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns); "Napoleon and Hitler waged war against all of Europe"

contend

verb

1. argue, hold, maintain, allege, assert, affirm, avow, aver The government contends that he is a fundamentalist.

2. compete, fight, struggle, clash, contest, strive, vie, grapple, jostle, skirmish The two main groups contended for power.

contend with something face, meet, deal with, oppose, tackle, cope with, confront, grapple with It is time, once again, to contend with racism.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

contend

verb

1. To strive in opposition:

battle, combat, duel, fight, struggle, tilt, war, wrestle.

2. To strive against (others) for victory:

compete, contest, emulate, rival, vie.

3. To put forth reasons for or against something, often excitedly:

argue, debate, dispute, moot.

4. To engage in a quarrel:

argue, bicker, dispute, fight, quarrel, quibble, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangle.

Informal: hassle, tangle.

Idioms: cross swords, have it out, have words, lock horns.

5. To put into words positively and with conviction:

affirm, allege, argue, assert, asseverate, aver, avouch, avow, claim, declare, hold, maintain, say, state.

Idiom: have it.

Translations

يَقول، يَدَّعي، يُؤكِّد القَوليُكافِح، يُقاوِم، يُنافِس

tvrditzápolitže

hævdekæmpe medpåståslås med

behaupten kämpfen

διατείνομαι

competir

lutter rivaliser soutenir batailler combattre

berjastfullyrîa

lottare sostenere

įsitikinimas

apgalvotcīnītiesstrīdēties

være stridbar

iddia etmekileri sürmekmücadele etmekuğraşmak

主张声称搏斗斗争

contend

[kənˈtend]

A. VT to contend that → afirmar que, sostener que

B. VI to contend (with sb) for sth → competir (con algn) por algo
we have many problems to contend with → se nos plantean muchos problemas
you'll have me to contend with → tendrás que vértelas conmigo
he has a lot to contend with → tiene que enfrentarse a muchos problemas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

contend

[kənˈtɛnd]

to contend with sth (= deal with) [+ problem, difficulty] → affronter qch
He has a lot to contend with
BUT Il a beaucoup de problèmes à résoudre.
to have to contend with (= face the problem of) → devoir affronter, être aux prises avec

(= compete) to contend for sth → se disputer qch
to contend with sb for sth → disputer qch à qn

vt (= claim) to contend that → soutenir que, prétendre que

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

contend

(= compete) → kämpfen; to contend (with somebody) for something → (mit jdm) um etw kämpfen; then you’ll have me to contend with → dann bekommst du es mit mir zu tun; but I’ve got two directors to contend with → aber ich habe es mit zwei Direktoren zu tun

(= cope) to contend with somebody/something → mit jdm/etw fertig werden

vt → behaupten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

contend

[kənˈtɛnd]

1. vt to contend that (frm) → sostenere che, asserire che

2. vi (fig) to contend (with sb) for sth → contendersi qc (con qn)
we have many problems to contend with → dobbiamo lottare contro molti problemi
you'll have me to contend with → dovrai vedertela con me
he has a lot to contend with → ha un sacco di guai

contend

(kənˈtend) verb

1. (usually with with) to struggle against.

2. (with that) to say or maintain (that).

conˈtender noun

a person who has entered a competition (for a title etc).

conˈtention noun

1. an opinion put forward.

2. argument; disagreement.

conˈtentious (-ʃəs) adjective

quarrelsome.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

In the first morality it is the eagle which, looking down upon a browsing lamb, contends that "eating lamb is good." In the second, the slave-morality, it is the lamb which, looking up from the sward, bleats dissentingly: "Eating lamb is evil."

View in context

Koner, triumphantly demonstrated the feasibility of the journey, its chances of success, the nature of the obstacles existing, the immense advantages of the aerial mode of locomotion, and found fault with nothing but the selected point of departure, which it contended should be Massowah, a small port in Abyssinia, whence James Bruce, in 1768, started upon his explorations in search of the sources of the Nile.

Ferguson; secondly, as to the trip itself, which, some contended, would not be undertaken at all, and which was really contemplated, according to others; thirdly, upon the success or failure of the enterprise; and fourthly, upon the probabilities of Dr.

View in context

The Man contended that he and his fellows were stronger than lions by reason of their greater intelligence.

View in context

He said, "it was common, when two YAHOOS discovered such a stone in a field, and were contending which of them should be the proprietor, a third would take the advantage, and carry it away from them both;" which my master would needs contend to have some kind of resemblance with our suits at law; wherein I thought it for our credit not to undeceive him; since the decision he mentioned was much more equitable than many decrees among us; because the plaintiff and defendant there lost nothing beside the stone they contended for: whereas our courts of equity would never have dismissed the cause, while either of them had any thing left.

View in context

They are intended for the perusal of young women, at that tender age when the feelings of their nature begin to act on them most insidiously, and when their minds are least prepared by reason and experience to contend with their passions.

View in context

It is contended that the national council ought to have no concern with any object of internal administration.

View in context

It is not contended that the number of people in each State ought not to be the standard for regulating the proportion of those who are to represent the people of each State.

Might not some surprise also be expressed, that those who reproach the Southern States with the barbarous policy of considering as property a part of their human brethren, should themselves contend, that the government to which all the States are to be parties, ought to consider this unfortunate race more completely in the unnatural light of property, than the very laws of which they complain?

View in context

Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores.

View in context

In that part of the western division of this kingdom which is commonly called Somersetshire, there lately lived, and perhaps lives still, a gentleman whose name was Allworthy, and who might well be called the favourite of both nature and fortune; for both of these seem to have contended which should bless and enrich him most.

View in context

The school board maintains that it didn't retaliate against Jackson and contends he has no case under Title IX.