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wrestle

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wrestle with a pig

To attempt a futile task with someone who enjoys the struggle (just as a pig would enjoy wrestling in the mud). I swear, trying to get the truth out of a teenager is like wrestling with a pig! My daughter has an excuse for everything, and I think she enjoys frustrating me!

See also: pig, wrestle

wrestle something from someone

to get something away from someone after a physical struggle. Wally wrestled the gun away from Max and threw it out the window. I could not wrestle my wallet from the thief.

See also: wrestle

wrestle something into something

to struggle with something large to get it into something or some place. She wrestled the packages into the backseat of the car. I wrestled the suitcases into the rack over my seat.

See also: wrestle

wrestle with someone

to contend with someone in a physical wrestling match. You are too big to wrestle with him! I want to wrestle with someone my own size.

See also: wrestle

wrestle with something

 

1. . to struggle with something large to move it about. He wrestled with the piano and finally got it to move. The two men were wrestling with the heavy trunk for nearly ten minutes, trying to get it up the stairs.

2. . to grapple or struggle with some large animal. The man wrestled with the tiger for a while but was seriously mauled in a short time. Sam liked to wrestle with the family dog.

3. to struggle with a difficult problem; to struggle with a moral decision. We wrestled with the problem and finally decided to go ahead. Let me wrestle with this matter for a while longer.

See also: wrestle

wrestle with something

to work hard to do something difficult The new governor will be wrestling with the state's disastrous financial condition. These are the big issues that society will have to wrestle with. More than 200 firefighters wrestled with the blaze for more than two hours.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of wrestle (to fight someone by trying to hold them to the ground)

See also: wrestle

wrestle with

v.

1. To contend with someone by grappling and attempting to throw or immobilize one's opponent: I wrestled with my cousin in the living room until my mom ordered us to go outside.

2. To contend or struggle with something or someone: The students wrestled with the math problem all afternoon.

3. To strive in an effort to master something: The thieves must wrestle with the guilt that weighs on them.

See also: wrestle