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Fight vs Resist - What's the difference?

fight | resist |

In intransitive terms the difference between fight and resist

is that fight is to strive for; to campaign or contend for success while resist is to oppose.

In transitive terms the difference between fight and resist

is that fight is to try to overpower; to fiercely counteract while resist is to withstand the actions of.

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

    resist

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To attempt to counter the actions or effects of.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.}}
  • To withstand the actions of.
  • * '>citation
  • *, chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • To oppose.
  • (obsolete) To be distasteful to.
  • * 1608 , , II. iii. 29:
  • These cates resist me,

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * resistance

    Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Antonyms

    * obey * submit

    Derived terms

    * irresistible * irresistibly * resistance * resistant * resistantly * resistible * resistibly * resistive * resistively * resistless * resistlessly * resistor

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A protective coating or covering. Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989.
  • Anagrams

    *

    References