put up a fight

English

Verb

put up a fight (third-person singular simple present puts up a fight, present participle putting up a fight, simple past and past participle put up a fight)

  1. To offer some form of resistance to an attack.
    She put up a fight when the mugger tried to steal her purse.
    • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 148:
      Most sharks will not put up a fight in the way that a sailfish or a tuna will when caught; sharks usually stay deep and pull hard on the line.
  2. (figuratively) To protest or make a fuss, especially over a proposed course of action.
    Their youngest son always put up a fight when it was bedtime.
    • 2024, Gracie Abrams, Audrey Hobert, “That's So True”, in The Secret of Us‎[1], performed by Gracie Abrams:
      I'll put up a fight, taking out my earrings
      Don't you know the vibe? Don't you know the feeling?
      You should spend the night, catch me on your ceiling
      That's your prize, that's your prize
      Well

Translations

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