Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - struggle

~1 v 1 to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult and you have a lot of problems  (struggle to do sth)  (She's struggling to bring up a family on a very low income.) + for  (a young artist struggling for recognition) 2 to fight someone who is attacking you or holding you, especially so that you can escape  (Liz struggled fiercely with her attacker.) 3 if two people struggle, they fight each other for something, especially something one of them is holding  (They struggled briefly, then Ray grabbed the bag and ran.) 4 to move somewhere with great difficulty + towards/into etc  (Kim struggled out of the wreckage, her head bleeding badly.) struggle on phr v to continue doing something that you find difficult, tiring etc  (We've lost two of our best players, but we're struggling on.) ~2 n 1 a long hard fight to get freedom, political rights etc  (the nation's struggle for independence | power struggle (=a fight to get power in a country or organization)) 2 a fight between two people for something, especially something one of them is holding  (After a short struggle I got the knife off him.) 3 an attempt to fight or escape from someone who is attacking you or holding on to you  (Police examined the body but found no signs of a struggle.) 4 be a struggle if an activity, job etc is a struggle for someone, they find it very difficult to do + for  (Reading is a struggle for Tim.)