fight

The word “fight” means to engage in physical combat or violence with someone. In plain terms, physical combat, or any kind of struggle or argument — as a noun, also the willpower to keep struggling.

“Fight” is pronounced fyt (/fəɪt/ in IPA).

Here is “fight” used in a sentence: “She has spent years fighting for workers’ rights.”

Words with a similar meaning to “fight” include affray, dust-up, fracas, kerfuffle, rixation and ruckus.

Depending on how it is used, “fight” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “fight” comes from Old English. From Old English feohtan, "to fight, strive," related to an ancient root meaning "to comb or tear," describing violent struggle.

“Fight” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Fight” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to engage in physical combat or violence with someone.

To fight, in this sense, is to use physical force against someone — hitting, wrestling, or otherwise coming to blows. To argue is to disagree in words, exchanging opposing views without violence. People do say they 'had a fight' about a purely verbal row, but the core meaning of 'fight' is physical.

'Fight' is an irregular verb. Its past tense and past participle are both 'fought,' not 'fighted': you say 'they fought yesterday' and 'he has fought many times.' The present form is 'fight' and the continuous form is 'fighting.' The unusual 'gh' spelling is a leftover from older English.

A fight is any clash of physical force, from a brief scuffle between two people to a longer struggle. A battle is larger and more organised — typically a major armed clash between opposing forces in a war. Every battle involves fighting, but most fights are far smaller than a battle.

In its physical sense: 'The two men began to fight in the street,' or 'soldiers trained to fight.' It also extends figuratively to any determined struggle, as in 'fight a disease' or 'fight for your rights,' where no physical blows are actually involved.