wrestle
/ˈɹɛs(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.48 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Sometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.
Transitive verb
verb
To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
Transitive verb
verb
To grapple or otherwise contend with an opponent in order to throw or force them to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.
Intransitive verb
verb
Followed by with: to move or manipulate something using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "And novv Ptolemais being to vvreſtle her laſt fall, ſtripped her ſelf of all cumberſome clothes: vvomen, children, aged perſons, vveak folks […] vvere ſent avvay; […]"
- "Hark thee, friend, […] wilt thou wrestle a fall with me?"
- "Have we not wrestled a turn before now?"
- "Where is Kerkuon [Cercyon of Eleusis], the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him to-day."
- "My driver at the second station was a stout girl of twenty, strong enough to wrestle any man, but shy, modest, and gentle."
- "Tunisia dug in to frustrate England in the second half but [Harry] Kane was the match-winner with a late header from Harry Maguire's flick, justice being done after referee Wilmar Roldan and the video assistant referee (VAR) had failed to spot him being wrestled to the ground twice in the penalty area."
Etymology
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. cognates * Middle Dutch worstelen, wrastelen (“to wrestle”) (modern Dutch worstelen) * Middle Low German wrostelen (“to wrestle”) (German Low German frösseln, wrösseln) * Saterland Frisian wrosselje (“to contend, wrestle”) * West Frisian wrakselje (“to wrestle”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *wreyt-, wrestlen,wrastlen, wrǣstlian, *wraistijaną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹɛs(ə)l/
- British English: /ˈɹɛsl̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
wrestles (present, singular)
wrestling (participle, present)
wrestled (participle, past)
wrestled (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
wrestled (first person, past)
wrestlest (archaic, present)
wrestled (past, second person)
wrestledst (archaic, past)
wrestleth (archaic, present)
wrestled (past, singular)