the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat
"they had a fierce wrestle"
"we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully"
A sport where two opponents attempt to subdue each other in bare-handed grappling using techniques of leverage, holding, and pressure points.
"After years of practicing wrestling at the local gym, he finally secured a spot on the national team by mastering complex holds and leveraging his opponent's weight against them."
In plain English: Wrestling is a sport where two people try to pin each other down or throw them off balance.
"The local wrestling championship is held every summer in the town square."
Usage: Use the noun wrestling when referring specifically to competitive sports like freestyle or Greco-Roman styles rather than general physical struggling. It is often confused with "wrestle" as a verb; remember that wrestling describes the activity itself while wrestle describes the action of grappling an opponent.
present participle of wrestle
"The young athlete was wrestling hard to pin his opponent during the championship match."
In plain English: To wrestle means to struggle with someone by pushing, pulling, and trying to throw them down.
"He was wrestling with his son on the living room floor before their father came home."
The word wrestling comes from late Old English wræstlung, where it originally referred to the act of grappling or struggling with someone by force. It entered modern usage as a direct descendant of this ancient term, retaining its core meaning throughout history.