Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To strive in opposition or against difficulties; struggle.
  • intransitive verb To strive in competition, as in a race; vie.
  • intransitive verb To strive in controversy or debate; dispute.
  • intransitive verb To assert or maintain.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
  • intransitive verb To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
  • intransitive verb To strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
  • transitive verb rare To struggle for; to contest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
  • verb to struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
  • verb to strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb come to terms with
  • verb to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation
  • verb have an argument about something
  • verb compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
  • verb be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
  • verb maintain or assert

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From contendere ("to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend"), from com- ("together") + tendere ("to stretch"); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend.

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Examples

  • Sources at the label contend that Apple's submission was a work-in-progress, not a completed recording.

    THE NEWS BLOG 2005

  • 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.

    Tennessee - Team Notes 2010

  • Among those too far back to contend is Padraig Harrington, whose hopes of a third straight claret jug ended with a 76.

    Can this happen? Watson keeps lead at British Open 2009

  • The rest, I contend, is the easy part, although I am sure that those who consider themselves “winemakers” might object to that conclusion.

    The New York Cork Report: 2009

  • 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.

    Southeastern Conference 2010

  • (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.

    FBI Targets Peace Activists For Alleged Terrorism Support 2010

  • (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.

    FBI Targets Peace Activists For Alleged Terrorism Support 2010

  • 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.

    Around the BigEast Conference 2010

  • (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.

    FBI Targets Peace Activists For Alleged Terrorism Support 2010

  • 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.

    Archive 2009-01-01 2009

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