Wrestle Meaning

/ˈɹɛsl̩/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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verbTo take part in (a wrestling bout or match).

verbSometimes followed by down: to contend with or move (someone) into or out of a position by grappling; also, to overcome (someone) by grappling.

You wanna arm wrestle?
Do you want to arm wrestle?
Mary watched the boys wrestle playfully in the backyard.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the wrestling championship, he will ____ his opponent for the title.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two brothers like to ____ on the grass in the garden during several the warm summer afternoons today.

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”)

"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; […]" — 1639, Thomas Fuller, “Ptolemais Besieged, and Taken by Sultan Serapha”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book IV, page 226:
"Hark thee, friend, […] wilt thou wrestle a fall with me?" — 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 81:
"Have we not wrestled a turn before now?" — 1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], “Conclusion”, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume II (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 351:
"Where is Kerkuon [Cercyon of Eleusis], the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him to-day." — 1855, Charles Kingsley, “Story III—Theseus: Part II: How Theseus Slew the Devourers of Men”, in The Heroes: Or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, London; Glasgow: Blackie and Son, →OCLC, page 179:
"My driver at the second station was a stout girl of twenty, strong enough to wrestle any man, but shy, modest, and gentle." — 1881, Paul B[elloni] Du Chaillu, chapter V, in The Land of the Midnight Sun: Summer and Winter Journeys through Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Northern Finland. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 51:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
In the wrestling championship, he will ____ his opponent for the title.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two brothers like to ____ on the grass in the garden during several the warm summer afternoons today.

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