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The act of enforcing; compulsion. He that contendeth against these enforcements may easily master or resist them. Sir W. Raleigh. Confess 't was hers, and by what rough enforcement You got it from her. Shak.

not." Dryden. (d) To drop on; to descend on. -- To fall out. (a) To quarrel; to begin to contend. A soul exasperated in ills falls out With everything, its friend, itself. Addison.

nt. They said, . . . We be come from a far country. Josh. ix. 6. The nations far and near contend in choice. Dryden.

nally; as, we shall see how it will fare with him. Sso fares it when with truth falsehood contends. Milton.

In a feeble manner. The restored church . . . contended feebly, and with half a heart. Macaulay.

combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue, or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms; -- followed by with or against. You do fight against your country's foes. Shak. To fight with thee no man of arms will deign. Milton.

button at the point. Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not. Shak. socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a word. Mitford.

To use a grapple; to contend in close fight; to attach one's self as if by a grapple, as in wrestling; to close; to seize one another. To grapple with, to enter into contest with, resolutely and courageously. And in my standard bear the arms of York, To grapple with the house of Lancaster. Shak.

ially to the Roltböllia incurvata, and to the species of Ægilops, from one of which it is contended that wheat has been derived.

the civil commotions of the republic, remained neuter, or an indifferent spectator of the contending parties, should be condemned to perpetual banishment. Addison.

Supreme; highest in degree; utmost. Contending for principles of the last importance. R. Hall .

Disposed to litigate; contending in law; engaged in a lawsuit; as, the parties litigant. Ayliffe.

Inclined to judicial contest; given to the practice of contending in law; guarrelsome; contentious; fond of litigation. " A pettifogging attorney or a litigious client." Macaulay. Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still Litigious men, who guarrels move. Donne.

One who contends about words.

ificial, unnatural, or false; -- often with up; as, to make up a story. And Art, with her contending, doth aspire To excel the natural with made delights. Spenser.

To oppose as equal; to contend successfully against. Eternal might To match with their inventions they presumed So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn. Milton.

To make war; to fight; to contend; -- usually followed by against and with. These are great questions, where great names militate against each other. Burke. The invisible powers of heaven seemed to militate on the side of the pious emperor. Gibbon.

Not engaged on either side; not taking part with or assisting either of two or more contending parties; neuter; indifferent. The heart can not possibly remain neutral, but constantly takes part one way or the other. Shaftesbury.

er, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; -- hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.

e odium of the fact on me. Dryden. Odium theologicum ( Etym: [L.], the enmity peculiar to contending theologians.