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struggle ~ straggle
[slightly different pronunciation: the ‘u’ in “struggle” rhymes with the ‘u’ in ‘but’, and the ‘a’ in “straggle” rhymes with the ‘a’ in ‘hat’ — for the right pronunciation of ‘struggle’, please click here & for the right pronunciation of ‘straggle’, please click here]
struggling to lift the weights
“Struggle”, as a verb, is ‘to try very, very hard to get or not to lose something or someone, though it is very difficult; to try to move away from someone or something that is holding or stopping so that one can get away (escape); to fight with each other for something one of them has or is holding’; as a noun, it is ‘a fight between two persons or a group or groups for something one has or is holding, or by one of them trying to escape from the other; (political) a long hard fight to get freedom or civil rights; a long period of difficult time in which one tries very hard to get out of it’,
e.g.
She struggled hard to free herself from robber’s grip.
The poor struggle for survival.
He struggled to free his business from debts.
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straggling in a race
“Straggle” (verb) is ‘to reach a place or position or destination, or a finish line in a race, fairly slowly after others or later than some others or later than the appointed time; to go to or reach a place well behind the others of your group or team because you are slow or tired or not strong enough; to fall behind in one’s studies because of lack of interest or concentration, or being not in good health; a scattered or disorderly group of people or things ’,
{A “straggler” is the one who falls behind the others.}
e.g.
I straggled behind my friends, carrying the camping gear.
The teacher thought of giving extra support for those who straggle in her class.
The presenter in the Nat Geo Quiz programme says: ‘We cut the rope on the straggler!’
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