MEANING
1. To strive or struggle against a difficulty or competitor.
2. To state or argue that something is true.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- contend with hardship
- contend for a prize
On the page
She contended with the current until the shoreline blurred.
Three families contended for control of the harbor.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- contend
- Past tense
- contended
- Past participle
- contended
- Present participle
- contending
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- contend
- Present continuous
- am/is/are contending
- Present perfect
- have/has contended
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been contending
- Past
- contended
- Past continuous
- was/were contending
- Past perfect
- had contended
- Past perfect continuous
- had been contending
- Future
- will contend
- Future continuous
- will be contending
- Future perfect
- will have contended
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been contending
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: contend; contends; contended; contended; contending Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: contends.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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