striving

Pluralstrivings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Effort directed toward a goal; the sustained work of one who tries hard to achieve something.

   Like a runner who keeps pressing forward even when the finish line is far away.

   The novel celebrates human striving against impossible odds.

   Her tireless striving earned the respect of everyone on the research team.

   Similareffort, endeavor, struggle, exertion, toil

   Oppositeapathy, idleness, complacency

   Note

   Countable and uncountable uses pull apart here. Uncountable striving is effort as a quality of a life or a people, as in human striving. In the plural it names particular ambitions, often sorted by field. Harry E. Wedeck's Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs (1961) speaks of society's "commercial, artistic, social strivings". Steve Talbott (2007) pairs "strivings and contrivings", and the rhyme gives the plural a wry edge.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of strive.

   Activists are striving for cleaner air across the city.

   He spent years striving to master the violin.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every sense of strive, not only effort toward a goal. It can also mean contending against an opponent or vying with a rival, as in nations striving for dominance. After be it builds progressives (they are striving), and as a gerund it names the activity (striving takes patience). Once it becomes a countable thing with a plural, it has turned into the noun for effort.

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