Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - fight

~1 past tense and past participle fought ~ v 1 »WAR« to take part in a war or battle  (Did your Uncle fight in the last war? | fight sb)  (Vietnam fought France and then the US over 30 years.) + against/with  (He fought against the Russians on the Eastern Front.) + about/over/for  (Britain and Argentina fought for control of the islands. | fight a war)  (Neither country is capable of fighting a long war.) 2 »HIT PEOPLE« if someone fights another person, or if two people fight, they hit and kick each other in order to hurt each other  (Two guys were fighting in the street outside the bar. | fight sb)  (Grant has fought most of the boys in his street.)  (Phil was fighting with Ryan in the playground.) + about/over/for  (two dogs fighting over a bone) 3 »COMPETE« to compete strongly for something, especially a job or political position or in a sport  (fight sb for sth)  (Williams fought several rivals for the leadership of the party.) + for  (If you want the job you'll have to fight for it.) fight an election  (The mayor has decided against fighting another election.) 4 »ARGUE« to argue about something  (The kids fought in the back seat the whole trip.) + about/over  (They're fighting about whose turn it is to do the dishes.) 5 »SPORT« to hit someone as a sport  (Ali fought Foreman for the heavyweight title.) 6 »EMOTION« also fight back/down to try very hard not to show your feelings or not to do something you want to do  (He fought the impulse to slap her.) 7 fight your way to push people away in order to go somewhere  (We fought our way through the crowd.) 8 fight a losing battle to work hard when you cannot succeed  (I think they're fighting a losing battle with that libel suit.) 9 fight shy of doing sth to try to avoid doing something or being involved in something  (Jane fought shy of participating in the discussions.) 10 fighting spirit/words the desire to fight or words which express that desire  (The marches aroused their fighting spirit.) 11 have a fighting chance to have a chance to do something or achieve something if you work very hard at it  (Lewis has a fighting chance to win the gold medal.) 12 fight fire with fire to use the same methods as your opponents in an argument fight back phr v 1 to use violence against someone who has attacked you  (The rebels are fighting back.) 2 to work hard to prevent something bad happening  (Victims of discrimination often don't have the power to fight back.) 3 T fight something back) to try hard not to show your feelings  (fight back tears)  (She fought back the tears until she got home.) fight sb/sth off phr v 1 to use violence to keep someone or something away  (The stars had to fight off the crowds to get out of the auditorium.) 2 to try hard to get rid of something  (Elaine's fighting off a cold. | Bardot fought off the sex symbol image.) fight sth out phr v to argue, or use violence until a disagreement is settled  (We left them to fight it out.) ~2 n 1 »HIT« an act of fighting in which two people or groups hit, push etc each other + between  (a fight between two gangs.) + over  (fights over territory) get into a fight  (He's always getting into fights with other boys. | have a fight)  (The cat had a fight last night. | start/pick a fight)  (Are you trying to start a fight?) 2 »BATTLE« a battle between two armies, especially the fighting that happens at one particular place and time + for  (the fight for Bunker Hill) 3 »ARGUMENT« a quarrel or an argument  (have a fight)  (They've had a fight with the neighbours.) 4 »ACHIEVE/PREVENT STH« the work of trying to achieve something, change something, or prevent something + agains  (the fight against crime) + for  (We will not give up the fight for better conditions.) have a fight on your hands (=have to oppose someone to achieve something)  (He'll have a fight on his hands to get Malone acquitted.) 5 »SPORT« an act of fighting as a sport  (Are you going to watch the big fight tonight?) 6 »ENERGY« the energy and desire to keep fighting for something you want to achieve  (There's still plenty of fight left in your grandmother.) 7 put up a good fight to work very hard to fight or compete in a difficult situation  (Although our team didn't win, they put up a good fight.) 8 a fight to the finish a fight that continues until one side is completely defeated  (- see also pick a quarrel/fight pick1 (9))