Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Conflict
Con′flict
,Noun.
[L. ]
conflictus
a striking together, fr. confligere
, -flictum
, to strike together, to fight: cf. F. conflit
, formerly also conflict
. See Conflict
, Verb.
1.
A striking or dashing together; violent collision;
as, a
. conflict
of elements or waves2.
A strife for the mastery; hostile contest; battle; struggle; fighting.
As soon as he [Atterbury] was himself again, he became eager for action and
conflict
. Macaulay.
An irrepressible
conflict
between opposing and enduring forces. W. H. Seward.
Syn. – Contest; collision; struggle; combat; strife; contention; battle; fight; encounter. See
Contest
. Con-flict′
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Conflicted
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Conflicting
.] [L.
conflictus
, p. p. of confligere
to conflict (cf. conflictare
); con-
+ fligere
to strike; cf. Gr. φλίβειν
, θλίβειν
, to press, L. flagrum
whip.] 1.
To strike or dash together; to meet in violent collision; to collide.
Shak.
Fire and water
conflicting
together. Bacon.
2.
To maintain a conflict; to contend; to engage in strife or opposition; to struggle.
A man would be content to . . .
conflict
with great difficulties, in hopes of a mighty reward. Abp. Tillotson.
3.
To be in opposition; to be contradictory.
Syn. – To fight; contend; contest; resist; struggle; combat; strive; battle.
Torn with sundry
conflicting
passions. Bp. Hurd.
Webster 1828 Edition
Conflict
CONFLICT
,Noun.
1.
A striking or dashing against each other, as of two moving bodies in opposition; violent collision of substances; as a conflict of elements, or waves; a conflict of particles in ebulltion.2.
A fighting; combat, as between men, and applicable to individuals or to armies; as, the conflict was long and desperate.3.
Contention; strife; contest.In our last conflict, four of his five wits went halting off.
4.
Struggling with difficulties; a striving to oppose, or overcome.The good man has a perpetual conflict with his evil propensities.
5.
A struggling of the mind; distress; anxiety. Colossians 2.6.
The last struggle of life; agony; as the conflict with death.7.
Opposing operations; countervailing action; collision; opposition.In exercising the right of freemen, the man of religion experiences no conflict between his duty and his inclination.
CONFLICT
, v.i.1.
To strike or dash against; to meet and oppose, as bodies driven by violence; as conflicting waves or elements.2.
To drive or strike against, as contending men, or armies; to fight; to contend with violence; as conflicting armies.3.
To strive or struggle to resist and overcome; as men conflicting with difficulties.4.
To be in opposition or contradictory.The laws of the United States and of the individual States, may, in some cases, conflict with each other.
Definition 2024
conflict
conflict
English
Noun
conflict (plural conflicts)
- A clash or disagreement, often violent, between two opposing groups or individuals.
- 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:
- One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools […] as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
- The conflict between the government and the rebels began three years ago.
-
- An incompatibility, as of two things that cannot be simultaneously fulfilled.
- I wanted to attend the meeting but there's a conflict in my schedule that day.
Derived terms
Translations
clash or disagreement
|
|
incompatibility
|
Verb
conflict (third-person singular simple present conflicts, present participle conflicting, simple past and past participle conflicted)
- (intransitive, with ‘with’) To be at odds (with); to disagree or be incompatible
- 2014 March 2, Jan Morris, “Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson, review: A skilful account of T. E. Lawrence and his role in the painful birth of an emerging Middle East [print version: A rock in Arabia's shifting sands, 1 March 2014, p. R26]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
- [T. E.] Lawrence said that in the end he felt himself to be fighting not for the imperial British but for the rebellious Arabs. All too often he conflicted with British bureaucratic fustiness.
-
- (intransitive, with ‘with’) To overlap (with), as in a schedule.
- Your conference call conflicts with my older one: please reschedule.
Translations
be at odds (with)
overlap with, as in a schedule
References
- “conflict” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Latin conflictus, past participle of confligere (“to strike together”), from com- (“together”) (a form of con-) + fligere (“to strike”)
Noun
conflict n (plural conflicten, diminutive conflictje n)
- A conflict, clash or dispute
Derived terms
- conflictsituatie
- conflictstof
Related terms
- conflictueus (adjective)