want in court (     ^ A fT'g' ^1: He fought his

wife for custody of the children. fteffl#7frl!rW]ft3X®7 Eft Hu ^$.0 0 I’m determined to fight the case.

► fighting noun [U]: Fighting broke out in three districts of the city last night.          ftfto

0 outbreaks of street fighting #ftlft:l§:^: f»!Bl fight your/sb’s corner (BrE) to defend your/sb’s position against other people          r )

fight ,fire with fire to use similar methods in a fight or an argument to those your opponent is using IX BH j£BH, IM^idE^f .fight for (your) life to make a great effort to stay alive, especially when you are badly injured or seriously ill (        £#4-4

a .fighting chance a small chance of being successful if a great effort is made

fighting 'fit extremely fit or healthy ft         Jfelf

fighting spirit a feeling that you are ready to fight very hard for sth or to try sth difficult ftjg; ft ft ft# fighting talk comments or remarks that show that you are ready to fight very hard for sth ft ft14 ift W ifc : What we want from the management is fighting talk. fHl^^fr^Ji^ftftsWo fiSht a .losing 'battle to try to do sth that you will probably never succeed in doing fr-^AMMlftft; S&Jife?cftt)fcf£#ft fight shy of sth/of doing sth to be unwilling to accept sth or do sth, and to try to avoid it         ( ftfift ) £

^ ; 0 M.; IS: Successive governments have fought shy of such measures. ^11

fight to the death/'finish to fight until one of the two people or groups is dead, or until one person or group defeats the other fj g| ^—if flij ft; — $: #t It fight .tooth and 'nail to fight in a very determined way for what you want M#ift#-; tU&i&ft#: The residents are fighting tooth and nail to stop the new development. MWilt i£^r.ft#0 fight your own battles to be able to win an argument or get what you want without anyone’s help 34 ft ft ; 34 § fif ftJft?tJ: I wouldn’t get involved—he’s

old enough to fight his own battles. ft $1 # -Nf    

ffe S g 4c ft , IB 34 i jk # 7 o — more at live1 »a;i:yj .fight back (against sb/sth) to resist strongly or attack sb who has attacked you If fttrC; 24: Don’t let them bully you. Fight back!

! 0 It is time to fight back against street crime. M ftlftEi4f£7o .fight sth-back/ 'down to try hard not to do or show sth, especially not to show your feelings Eft, WtfrJft (     ) : I

was fighting back the tears. ffcHEft BilfB 0 0 He fought down his disgust, ft ® E ft ft' M #J K 38 0 , fight sb/sth— off to resist sb/sth by fighting against them/it ffitfC; ft il: The jeweller was stabbed as he tried to fight the robbers off.          7 0 .fight

'out sth | .fight it 'out to fight or argue until an argu­ment has been settled IX ft#ftftt?<ft;

The conflict is still being fought out. j75ftai;i2ftftt?#i& 0 They hadn’t reached any agreement so we left them to fight it out.

» noun

►                 STRUGGLE jf ft 1 [C] ~ (with sb/sth) | ~ (between A and

B) a struggle against sb/sth using physical force If ft; 3\Tft;          : He got into a fight with a man in the bar.

Aft®0 o a street/gangfight jijft / W M fS ft O A fight broke out between rival groups of fans.      0 a world title fight

(= fighting as a sport) —

►                 TRYING TO GET/DO STH ft ft 2 [sing] ~ (against/for sth) | ~ (to do sth) the work of trying to destroy, prevent or achieve sth ft ft: the fight against crime fjhWif 0 a fight for survival ftftftMftft

►                 COMPETITION ft'M 3 [sing.] a competition or an act of

competing, especially in a sport ( ft ft # is ) ft ff , %     : The team put up a good fight (= they

played well) but were finally beaten. & ft (A IT 3# ft It, ft II ft *£ il T o o She now has a fight on her hands (= will have to play very well) to make it through to the next round.

o note at campaign

          ARGUMENT ft 4 [C] r (with sb) | - (over/about sth)

(.especially NAmF) an argument about sth ft ft:; ft [ft: Did you have a fight with him? tfeftf^T? o We had a fight over money. &Qr\:f}&WpT—%l0

►                 BATTLE/WAR [ft ft: ft, ft 5 [C] a battle, especially for a particular place or position ftft ( Atsftftft^— ftftB ) : In the fight for Lemburg, the Austrians were

defeated. mmJftftft, JiWJAftJ&T.

►                 DESIRE TO FIGHT ft 6 [U] the desire or ability to keep fighting for sth ftife; ft ft ft: In spite of many defeats, they still had plenty of fight left in them.

m, ftmft^^^o

IT»!?1 a fight to the finish a sports competition, elec­tion, etc. between sides that are so equal in ability that they continue fighting very hard until the end ( ftW It

m. aSWW)l[»*ft^jiftti|ttftW'ft^--moreat

PICK V., SPOIL V.

SYNONYMS

fight

clash ♦ brawl ♦ struggle ♦ scuffle ♦ tussle

These are all words for a situation in which people try to defeat each other using physical force. tU±#is|#J

*r*k tm.

fight a situation in which two or more people try to defeat each other using physical force jt If ft, f] ft, tT^: He got into a fight with a man in the bar.

«SBESfB--ftMAft®0

clash (journalism) a short fight between two groups of people Mjfm,       tm.

ft ^: Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators.       Tft^o

brawl a noisy and violent fight involving a group of people, usually in a public place %ik®, ft®. 1^♦: a drunken brawl in a barfE

struggle a fight between two people or groups of people, especially when one of them is trying to escape, or to get sth from the other jfft>; fRfJ,

: There were no signs of a struggle at the murder scene.      ff ft

mm o

scuffle a short and not very violent fight or struggle ft^: He was involved in a scuffle with a photographer, ftfafn—

7Ef4ftji0

tussle a short struggle, fight or argument, especially in order to get sth Afliftft^^iM0N-|B]#jffltT> ftft, ft#l: He was injured during a tussle for the ball. fttrtEft*HW3t7«5,

PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS

■                 in a fight/brawl/struggle/scuffle/tussle

■                 a fight/clash/brawl/struggle/scuffle/tussle over sth

■                 to be in/get into/be involved in a fight/clash/brawl/ struggle/scuffle/tussle

■                 to start a fight/brawl/scuffle

■                 a fight/clash/brawl/struggle/scuffle/tussle breaks out

■                 a fight/clash/brawl/struggle/scuffle takes place/ starts

* a violent fight/clash/brawl/struggle/scuffle/tussle

■                 a street fight/brawl

fight-back /’faitbaek/ noun [usually sing.] (BrE) an effort by a person, group or team to get back to a strong position that they have lost 0^; JyJk fight-er /'faita(r)/ noun 1 (also 'fighter plane) a fast military plane designed to attack other aircraft ft ft #1;   a jet fighter ftj^ftftffl O a fighter pilot

ft ft #1 % M 0 fighter bases ft ft #1S — picture