WordWeb Online

1. Engaged in a struggle to overcome especially poverty or obscurity
   "a financially struggling theatre"; "struggling artists"

1. To exert strenuous effort against opposition
   "he struggled to get free from the rope"
    
2. Make a strenuous or laboured effort
   "She struggled for years to survive without welfare";
   - fight
    
3. Climb awkwardly over rough or steep ground, often also using hands
   - clamber, scramble, shinny [N. Amer, informal]
    
4. Be engaged in a physical struggle, by hand or using weapons
   "Militant groups are struggling for control of the country";
   - fight

See also: troubled

Type of: assay, attempt, climb, endeavor [US], endeavour [Brit, Cdn], essay, seek, strive, try

Encyclopedia: Struggle