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Promise vs Fight - What's the difference?

promise | fight | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between promise and fight

is that promise is bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised while fight is a screen for the combatants in ships.

In transitive terms the difference between promise and fight

is that promise is to commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow while fight is to try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.

In intransitive terms the difference between promise and fight

is that promise is to give grounds for expectation, especially of something good while fight is to strive for; to campaign or contend for success.

promise

English

Alternative forms

* promyse

Noun

(en noun)
  • An oath or affirmation; a vow.
  • A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
  • * 1668 July 3rd, , “Thomas Rue contra'' Andrew Hou?toun” in ''The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
  • He pur?ued Andrew Hou?toun upon his promi?e , to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in ab?ence obtained him to be holden as confe?t and Decerned.
  • Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
  • * Washington Irving
  • My native country was full of youthful promise .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), chapter=1
  • , title=(The China Governess) citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • (computing, programming) A placeholder object that can be manipulated in code before it has been assigned a value.
  • (obsolete) Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.
  • * Bible, Acts i. 4
  • He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

    Verb

    (promis)
  • To commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.
  • To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
  • The clouds promise rain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1897, author=
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 citation , passage=I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.}}

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    *

    See also

    * (election promise)

    Statistics

    *

    fight

    English

    Verb

  • (label) To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle etc.
  • (label) To strive for; to campaign or contend for success.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern. Then, for a jiffy, I hung on and fought for breath.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-07-05, volume=412, issue=8894, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Freedom fighter , passage=[Edmund] Burke continued to fight for liberty later on in life. He backed Americans in their campaign for freedom from British taxation. He supported Catholic freedoms and freer trade with Ireland, in spite of his constituents’ ire. He wanted more liberal laws on the punishment of debtors.}}
  • (label) To conduct or engage in (battle, warfare etc.).
  • * (1800-1859)
  • He had to fight his way through the world.
  • * Bible, iv. 7
  • I have fought a good fight.
  • (label) To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.
  • (label) To try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.
  • To cause to fight; to manage or manoeuvre in a fight.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * fight a losing battle * fight back * fight fire with fire * fightest * fight shy of * fight the good fight * fight tooth and nail

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An occasion of fighting.
  • (archaic) A battle between opposing armies.
  • A physical confrontation or combat between two or more people or groups.
  • (sports) A boxing or martial arts match.
  • A conflict, possibly nonphysical, with opposing ideas or forces; strife.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=18 citation , passage=‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= A new prescription , passage=As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs.}}
  • The will or ability to fight.
  • (obsolete) A screen for the combatants in ships.
  • * Dryden
  • Up with your fights , and your nettings prepare.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * bullfight * bun fight * cockfight * dogfight * fight or flight * fighter * fighting * fight scene * fight the good fight * fist fight * food fight * footfight * gunfight * pillow fight * prize fight * straight fight * sword fight * thumb fight