fought
ˈfȯt 
; fighting
1
a
: to contend in battle or physical combat
especially
: to strive to overcome a person by blows or weapons
The soldiers fought bravely.
b
: to engage in boxing
He will fight for the heavyweight title next month.
2
: to put forth a determined effort
They were fighting to stay awake.
1
a(1)
: to contend against in or as if in battle or physical combat
fought the invaders of his homeland
was fighting a forest fire
(2)
: to box against in the ring
fought several strong contenders
b(1)
: to attempt to prevent the success or effectiveness of
the company fought the takeover attempt
(2)
: to oppose the passage or development of
fight a bill in Congress
3
: to struggle to endure or surmount
fight a cold
is fighting cancer
4
a
: to gain by struggle
fights his way through
b
: to resolve by struggle
fought out their differences in court
5
a
: to manage (a ship) in a battle or storm
b
: to cause to struggle or contend
c
: to manage in an unnecessarily rough or awkward manner
see also fight shy of
Examples of fight in a Sentence
Verb
When he was young he was always fighting.
He fought like a tiger.
The U.S. and Germany fought in World Wars I and II.
They vowed to fight the invaders of their homeland.
The U.S. fought Germany in World Wars I and II.
He and his wife are always fighting over money.
We were fighting to protect our jobs.
Noun
A fight broke out in the bar.
When he was young he was always getting into fights.
He got into another fight with his wife about money.
a fight for the heavyweight title
Recent Examples on the Web
Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026
Law enforcement said members of the War Dogs and Pagans fought at Forty Bar and Grille with clubs, knives and gunshots fired into the air in the parking lot.
—Ross Guidotti, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Riley Rourke, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
And also on Untucked … • Nobody gets into a huge fight, and the girls seem mostly happy with the tops and the bottoms this week.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fight
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Verb
Decades earlier, when the jail was being proposed, our community fought against it.
—Noun
One man has been arrested and another is in the hospital after a fight and fall at TD Garden during a Boston Bruins game on Saturday, Boston Police said.
—Cite this Entry
“Fight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fight. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Kids Definition
fight
1 of 2 verb
fought
ˈfȯt
; fighting
1
a
: to struggle against another in battle or physical combat
2
: to try hard
fighting to stay awake
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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