# battling

Pronunciation: say "BAT-ling" /ˈbætlɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle of battle. — present participle of battle
   - Simple: Present participle of battle. Use this -ing form when the fighting or struggling is happening right now.
   - _Rescue crews spent days battling the rising floodwaters._
   - _He kept battling his rivals for the top spot all season._

## Adjective

2. Actively engaged in fighting or combat.
   - Simple: Fighting in a war or in a hard struggle right now.
   - _The battling armies clashed repeatedly along the river._
   - _Reporters described the candidates as battling rivals locked in a dead heat._
6. Nourishing; tending to fatten.
   - Simple: Giving lots of food value and helping people or animals grow fat.
   - _The battling grasses of the valley were famous for fattening livestock._
   - _Travelers spoke of the battling fare served at the old farmhouse._
7. Able to produce plentiful growth, as rich, well-nourished ground does.
   - Simple: Rich enough to grow lots of healthy plants and crops, like good soil.
   - _The battling soil along the river grew wheat so thick that a horse could barely push through it._
   - _Few stretches of ground were as battling as the well-watered meadow._

## Noun

3. Engagement in combat or fighting; the act of struggling.
   - Simple: The act of fighting or struggling against someone or something.
   - _Decades of political battling produced little real change._
   - _Her recovery demanded constant battling against her own doubts._
4. Anything that nourishes or fattens, such as food for people, feed for livestock, or manure that enriches soil.
   - Simple: Food, animal feed, or manure that helps living things or soil grow rich.
   - _Cottagers prized any battling that would fatten their few animals before market._
   - _The thin soil yielded little until generations of battling enriched it._
5. The process by which something becomes fat, or the deliberate fattening of it.
   - Simple: The process of getting fat, or of making an animal grow fat.
   - _The battling of cattle for market was a careful, season-long task._
   - _Farmers judged the battling of their stock by feel as much as by eye._

## Origin

**Meanings 4–7** — From the verb "battle" in the sense of "to nourish, feed."
**Meanings 1–2** — From Middle English batellynge, equivalent to "battle" plus the suffix "-ing."
**Meaning 3** — From Middle English bataillinge, equivalent to "battle" plus the suffix "-ing."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/battling (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).