wrestleverb/ˈɹɛsl̩/

• 1

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

  • 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?
• 2

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

  • 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.
• 3

  To move or manipulate (something) using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.

  • I couldn't wrestle the trunk down the hall.
  • And, wrestling both his arms into a gown, / He paused and took a survey up and down.
• 4

  To engage in (a contest or struggle).

• 5

  To throw down (a calf or other livestock animal) for branding.

• 6

  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.

  • Wreſtell nat with me for I wyll throwe the [thee] on thy backe […]
  • [Y]ee gaue their diligẽce [diligence] to lerne to fight, to wriſtle, to leape, to daunce, ⁊ to put at yͤ ſtone: […]
• 7

  Followed by with: to move or manipulate something using physical effort, usually with some difficulty or opposition.

  • It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales.
  • But 'tis a thing of saintlier nature, / Amidst her friends of pigmy stature, / To see the maid in youth's fair bloom, / A guardian sister's charge assume, / […] / With her in mimick war they wrestle; / Beneath her twisted robe they nestle; […]
• 8

  To make one's way or move with some difficulty or effort.

  • [S]o great a ſtorme of vvind and raine beat vpon vs that vvee not only loſt our vvay, but our ſelues, and at length vvraſtled to Geer, hauing firſt paſt through the Straits of Mozendram.
  • [T]hy Lips, […] their tvvo-leav'd Door / So cloſe they ſhut, that […] not Breath it ſelfe, has povver to bore / Its vvay, but forced is to goe about, / And through the Noſes Sluces vvreſtle out.

wrestlenoun/ˈɹɛsl̩/

• 1

  A fight or struggle between people during which they grapple or otherwise contend with each other in order to throw or force their opponent to the ground, chiefly as a sport or in unarmed combat.

  • [I]n a VVreſtle the Giant [Gogmagog] catching aloft, vvith a terrible hugg broke three of his Ribs: nevertheleſs Corineus enrag'd, heaving him up by main force, and on his Shoulders bearing him to the next high Rock, threvv him headlong all ſhatter'd into the Sea, and left his name on the Cliff, call'd ever ſince Langoëmagog, vvhich is to ſay, the Giants leap.
  • Beyond the tilt-yard spread the larger space, / For the strong wrestle and the breathless race; […]
• 2

  A situation in which people compete with each other; a contest, a struggle.

  • Both parties in the wrestle professing earnest wishes of peace to us, what have we to do with it except answer earnestly, "Peace, yes certainly," and mind our affairs elsewhere. The British Nation has no concern with that indispensable sorrowful and shameful wrestle now going on everywhere in foreign parts.
  • The body politic, which, while it remained in repose, had presented a superficial appearance of health and vigour, was not under the necessity of straining every nerve in a wrestle for life or death, and was immediately found to be unequal to the exertion.
• 3

  The action of contending or struggling.

  • War in Italy, universal spasm of wrestle there, being now the expectation of foolish mankind.