Added 30 September 2026

wrestle

/ˈɹɛsl̩/ verb

In Latin: luctor Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wrestle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To take part in (a wrestling bout or match). Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling. To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
I couldn't wrestle the trunk down the hall.
To take part in (a wrestling bout or match).
Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.

A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat. A situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.
A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
A situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.

The verb is derived from Middle English wrestlen, wrastlen (“to engage in grappling combat or sport, struggle, wrestle; to twist and turn, squirm, wriggle, writhe; (figurative) to contend, grapple with, struggle”), from Old English wrǣstlian (“to wrestle”), a frequentative form of wrǣstan (“to twist, wrest”), from Proto-Germanic *wraistijaną (“to turn; to twist, wrest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). By surface analysis, wrest + -le (frequentative suffix). Probably related to wraxle (UK, dialectal, archaic). The noun is derived from the verb.