fight

verb

/faɪt/ (fought, fought)

Definition

B1 [I or T] to use physical force to try to defeat another person or group of people: There were children fighting in the playground. The soldiers fought from house to house. They fought with (= on the side of) the North against the South. The birds were fighting over (= competing for) a scrap of food. They fight like cats and dogs (= fight or argue very angrily and violently). They fought to the bitter end/to the death (= until everyone on one side was dead or completely defeated).Fighting B2 [I or T] to use a lot of effort to defeat or achieve something, or to stop something happening: He fought the disease bravely for three years. We need the public's help in fighting crime. He fought against racism. Vitamin C is thought to help fight colds and flu. They had to fight hard for improvements to the road system. One of the passengers was fighting for her life (= so ill or injured that she might die) last night after receiving multiple injuries in the collision. With debts of over $2 million, the corporation is fighting for its life (= people are trying hard to stop it being destroyed) I had to fight (back) (= tried hard not to show or produce) the tears when he said he was leaving. The bank fought off (= successfully prevented) a takeover by another bank recently. I was getting a cold at the start of the week but I seem to have fought it off (= got rid of it).Responding to an attack B2 [I] informal to argue: I wish they wouldn't fight in front of the kids. I could hear them fighting about money again.Arguing and disagreeing

(Definition of fight verb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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