Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To strive in opposition or against difficulties; struggle: armies contending for control of strategic territory; had to contend with long lines at the airport.
- v. To compete, as in a race; vie.
- v. To strive in controversy or debate; dispute. See Synonyms at discuss.
- v. To maintain or assert: The defense contended that the evidence was inadmissible.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To strive; struggle in opposition or emulation: used absolutely, or with against or with.
- To endeavor; use earnest efforts, as for the purpose of obtaining, defending, preserving, etc.: usually with for before the object striven after.
- To dispute earnestly; strive in debate; wrangle: as, the parties contend about trifles.
- To dispute; contest.
- To assert; affirm; maintain: as, I contend that the thing is impossible.
Wiktionary
- v. to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
- v. to struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
- v. to strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
- v. To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
- v. To strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
- v. rare To struggle for; to contest.
WordNet 3.0
- v. come to terms with
- v. to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation
- v. have an argument about something
- v. compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
- v. be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
- v. maintain or assert
Etymologies
- From contendere ("to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend"), from com- ("together") + tendere ("to stretch"); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English contenden, from Latin contendere : com-, com- + tendere, to stretch, strive; see ten- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Sources at the label contend that Apple's submission was a work-in-progress, not a completed recording.”
“(Soundbite of protest) SCHAPER: After the searches, hundreds of anti-war activists protested outside of FBI headquarters in Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities to denounce what they contend is an effort to squash free speech against U.S. policy.”
NPR: FBI Targets Peace Activists For Alleged Terrorism Support
“THE GOOD NEWS: The Vols should again contend for an SEC title and have a good chance to make a deep NCAA Tournament run next year with a nice nucleus and a solid recruiting class.”
“The Huskies spent the spring looking to solidify its rotation and figure out how much depth it had at key positions, and it heads into the summer months optimistic that it will again contend in the Big East.”
“Despite all of the external pressures, the clampdown on dissent, while not as black and white as right-wing US politicians and newspaper editorialists contend, is neither necessary nor defensible to protect the gains of the revolution.”
“Among those too far back to contend is Padraig Harrington, whose hopes of a third straight claret jug ended with a 76.”
“The rest, I contend, is the easy part, although I am sure that those who consider themselves “winemakers” might object to that conclusion.”
“So Andy, yes, as Chairman Mao said, “Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land.””
“In short, they intend to destroy present-day society, which they contend is run in the interest of another class, and from the materials to construct a new society, which will be run in their interest.”
“The plaintiffs, described in court papers as immigrants with little to no fluency in English, contend they were misled into paying a franchise fee as high as $30,000 to win cleaning jobs.”
The Wall Street Journal: Franchisees: We're Employees, Not Contractors
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘contend’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
-
fight
words for fighting
( open list, randomness )bout, fight, match, smackdown, blue, stoush, battle, clash, fuss, fray, ruckus, tussle and 115 more...
-
EN - eloquence in public speaking
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
beget, imago, approbation, orator, peroration, Cicero, eloquence, elocution, rhetoric, premeditate, plead, Isocrates and 264 more...
-
the author [suggests] adjectives
allude to, refer to, hint, insinuate, intimate, present, prompt, inspire, advise, notes, proposes, suggests and 42 more...
-
Shakespeare.06
topple, mischance, chastise, contend, cistern, disjoint, gruel, prate, loon, sear, frieze, reconcile and 3 more...
-
Magoosh GRE
its a list of words borrowed from Magoosh GRE blog ,an indispensable resource for GRE test takers.
inimitable, exiguity, myriad, cornucopia, surfeit, glut, deluge, opaque, pellucid, grandiloquent, turgid, gadfly and 106 more...
-
fifi
verbs Adj Adv noun
indulge, convene, solve, dissolve, prospect, prospective, allege, resolve, accountable, administration, amid, agenda and 407 more...
-
The New Yorker
prejudice, ignominious, quintessence, disparity, vanguard, repudiated, eclectic, dredge, taxonomy, pugnacious, surreptitiously, pudgy and 113 more...
-
Words to Learn
colloquium, resilient, ruminate, missive, sylvan, indefatigable, preclude, prowess, quiescent, caustic, verdant, specter and 119 more...
-
newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
-
Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
-
NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
-
Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
-
ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for contend.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.