contend

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contend

/kənˈtɛnd/

Rhymes with -ɛnd

Where it comes from

From Middle English contenden, borrowed from Old French contendre, from Latin contendere (“to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend”), from com- (“together”) + tendere (“to stretch”); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend.

verb contends · contending · contended

intransitive To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight. The Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle.
Similar: fight, combat, vie, oppose
intransitive To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend. 17th century, John Dryden, Epistle III to the Lady Castlemain You sit above, and see vain men below / Contend for what you only can bestow.
Similar: struggle, strive, emulate
intransitive To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue. these simple ideas are far from those innate principles which some contend for
Similar: contest, litigate, dispute, debate
intransitive To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate. In this paper the author contends that no useful results can be obtained if this method is used.
Similar: assert, aver, submit
To try to cope with a difficulty or problem. However, the challenges for the railway world are much greater than for automotive as we generally have more occupants, higher speeds, greater masses, higher energies, and an absence of seatbelts or airbags to contend with.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: argue, contest, debate, compete, vie, repugn, cope, make do, get by, manage, deal, grapple, postulate, make out, fence, confront

Translations

Every language

verb strive in opposition

Español	contender, refertar, opositar
中文	奮鬥 /奋斗 fèndòu, 掙扎 zhēngzhá, 競爭 /竞争 jìngzhēng, 鬥爭 /斗争 dòuzhēng
Deutsch	streiten, sich auseinandersetzen, ringen mit, sich widersetzen, kämpfen
Русский	соперничать soperničatʹ
עברית	רָב rav

verb struggle

Español	contender
中文	競爭 /竞争 jìngzhēng, 爭奪 /争夺 zhēngduó, 掙扎 zhēngzhá
हिन्दी	जूझना jūjhnā
Deutsch	verteidigen, festhalten an, ringen um, kämpfen für, kämpfen um
Русский	боро́ться borótʹsja

verb strive in debate

Español	sostener
中文	爭論 /争论 zhēnglùn, 辯論 /辩论 biànlùn
हिन्दी	जूझना jūjhnā
Deutsch	sich einsetzen für, argumentieren, streiten für
Русский	утвержда́ть utverždátʹ

verb believe and argue

中文	認為 /认为 rènwéi, 論證 /论证 lùnzhèng
Deutsch	vorbringen, fest behaupten, die Ansicht vertreten

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Cite this

MLA

"contend." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/contend. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

contend. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/contend

Chicago

"contend." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/contend.

BibTeX

@misc{contend_2026,
  title = {contend},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/contend},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}