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Meaning & use

fought

verb·Everyday

Last updated

UK/fɔːt/
US/fɔːt/

“fought” is a form of “fight”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.

Meanings

  1. verbtransitive or intransitive

    Past tense and past participle of fight: took part in a physical struggle or battle against someone.

    Grammar: Past form of fight: they fought in the war; she fought the guard.

    Patterns

    • fought against someone
    • fought with someone
    • fought over something

    The two brothers fought over the last slice of pie.

    Soldiers fought for three days to hold the bridge.

    He has fought in two wars.

  2. verbtransitive or intransitive

    Struggled hard against something bad, such as an illness, injustice or a feeling.

    Grammar: Often takes a noun: she fought the disease; or for/against: they fought for fairness.

    Patterns

    • fought for something
    • fought against something

    She fought cancer for five years and won.

    The workers fought for better pay.

    He fought back tears as the train left.

  3. verbintransitiveinformal

    Argued angrily with someone.

    Grammar: Usually with about, over or with: we fought about money.

    Patterns

    • fought about something
    • fought with someone

    My parents fought about money for years.

    We fought with each other all week.

    The neighbours fought over the fence.

Common combinations

fought a battle
The villagers fought a battle against the flood.
fought for freedom
They fought for freedom and won.
fought back
The team fought back after a poor start.
fought off
Her body fought off the infection.
fought like cats and dogs
The sisters fought like cats and dogs as children.

Synonyms and how they differ

battled
Battled sounds more dramatic and often suggests a long struggle.
struggled
Struggled stresses effort and difficulty rather than conflict with an opponent.
clashed
Clashed suggests a short, sharp meeting between two sides or opinions.
quarreled
Quarreled describes an angry argument but not a physical fight.

Opposites

surrenderedgave in

Word family

fight verb
the base form of fought
fighter noun
a person who fights, or someone who never gives up
fighting noun
violent conflict, or the act of struggling
fight noun
a physical struggle or an argument

Commonly confused: fought or fort?

fought vs fort

A fort is a strong building for defence. Fought is a past tense verb, though some accents make the two sound alike.

Practice

Yesterday the two teams ___ hard for the trophy.

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