From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtussletus‧sle1 /ˈtʌsəl/ noun [countable] 1 FIGHTa fight using a lot of energy, in which two people get hold of each other and struggle SYN struggle After quite a tussle, I finally wrenched the letter from him.2 a struggle or argument in which people try to beat each other to get something SYN contest his defeat in the leadership tussle
Examples from the Corpus
tussle• Oxford will have a tussle on their hands at the Manor.• a tussle for control of the party• After a boardroom tussle at Paramount, its studio chief, Frank Mancuso, quit.• More agile, and much stronger than I, Kip got the bottle away from me after the briefest tussle.• The first tussles of the 1848 revolution took place here when it was the military headquarters.• Alton Bass Reserves winning a midfield tussle.• The tussles in the coming months between the White House and the Republican Congress will be crucial.• The two women got into a violent tussle in which Joan was thrown to the ground.• Bad blood remained from the previous weeks tussle and national expectation weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders.tussletussle2 verb [intransitive] 1 FIGHTto fight or struggle without using any weapons, by pulling or pushing someone rather than hitting themtussle with He was tussling with the other boys.2 to try to beat someone in order to get something SYN wrestletussle for They tussled for first place in the race.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
tussle• The yeoman's wife would tussle for a good place to set down her stool.• They were tussling, in their cute little MBA-zombie way, over who would get which cool movie poster.• There were kids tussling on rafts of planks and plastic drums; couples in rowing boats; powerboats limping, out of charge.• Raider and hunter tussled, strength against strength, the one pulling up, the other down.• One day, a woman turned up who must have seemed the very embodiment of that nature he was tussling with daily.• Her dolls or action figures may always kiss and hug, but never fight or tussle with each other, for example.• Shea tussled with the doorman when he was not allowed in the club.• I tussled with the fish for a bit, a strong and lively fellow, and persuaded it to the boat.• Now he was, spasmodically, totting up some figures - in the intervals between tussling with the Telegraph crossword clues.Origin tussle2 (1400-1500) touse “to pull roughly” ((14-19 centuries)) 