FIGHTING

active, combat-ready, fighting

(adjective) engaged in or ready for military or naval operations; “on active duty”; “the platoon is combat-ready”; “review the fighting forces”

fight, fighting, combat, scrap

(noun) the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; “a fight broke out at the hockey game”; “there was fighting in the streets”; “the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

fighting

present participle of fight

Adjective

fighting

Engaged in war or other conflict.

Apt to provoke a fight.

Etymology 2

Noun

fighting (countable and uncountable, plural fightings)

The act or process of contending; violence or conflict.

A fight or battle; an occasion on which people fight

Source: Wiktionary


Fight"ing, a.

1. Qualified for war; fit for battle. An host of fighting men. 2 Chron. xxvi. 11.

2. Occupied in war; being the scene of a battle; as, a fighting field. Pope. A fighting chance, one dependent upon the issue of a struggle. [Colloq.] -- Fighting crab (Zoöl.), the fiddler crab.

– Fighting fish (Zoöl.), a remarkably pugnacious East Indian fish (Betta pugnax), reared by the Siamese for spectacular fish fights.

FIGHT

Fight, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fought; p. pr. & vb. n. Fighting.] Etym: [OE. fihten, fehten, AS. feohtan; akin to D. vechten, OHG. fehtan, G. fechten, Sw. fäkta, Dan. fegte, and perh. to E. fist; cf. L. pugnare to fight, pugnus fist.]

1. To strive or contened for victory, with armies or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue, or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms; -- followed by with or against. You do fight against your country's foes. Shak. To fight with thee no man of arms will deign. Milton.

2. To act in opposition to anything; to struggle against; to contend; to strive; to make resistance. To fight shy, to avoid meeting fairly or at close quarters; to keep out of reach.

Fight, v. t.

1. To carry on, or wage, as a conflict, or battle; to win or gain by struggle, as one's way; to sustain by fighting, as a cause. He had to fight his way through the world. Macaulay. I have fought a good fight. 2 Tim. iv. 7.

2. To contend with in battle; to war against; as, they fought the enemy in two pitched battles; the sloop fought the frigate for three hours.

3. To cause to fight; to manage or maneuver in a fight; as, to fight cocks; to fight one's ship. To fight it out, to fight until a decisive and conclusive result is reached.

Fight, n. Etym: [OE. fight, feht, AS. feoht. See Fight, v. i.]

1. A battle; an engagement; a contest in arms; a combat; a violent conflict or struggle for victory, between individuals or between armies, ships, or navies, etc. Who now defies thee thrice to single fight. Milton.

2. A struggle or contest of any kind.

3. Strength or disposition for fighting; pugnacity; as, he has a great deal of fight in him. [Colloq.]

4. A screen for the combatants in ships. [Obs.] Up with your fights, and your nettings prepare. Dryden. Running fight, a fight in which the enemy is continually chased; also, one which continues without definite end or result.

Syn.

– Combat; engagement; contest; struggle; encounter; fray; affray; action; conflict. See Battle.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 June 2025

PUNGENCY

(noun) wit having a sharp and caustic quality; “he commented with typical pungency”; “the bite of satire”


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Coffee Trivia

Decaffeinated coffee is not caffeine-free. Studies from the National Institute of Health (US) have shown that virtually all decaf coffee types contain caffeine. A 236-ml (8-oz) cup of decaf coffee contains up to 7 mg of caffeine, whereas a regular cup provided 70-140 mg.

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