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PlainSpell

fight

/fəɪt/verb, noun

fight is spelled F-I-G-H-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 170 times per million words in written English, the 591st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, fight means “To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in fight?

Letters5: F-I-G-H-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing170 times per million words; the 591st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is fight?

Fight appears 170 times per million words in written English, the 591st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fight?

  • UK /faɪt/
  • US /fəɪt/
  • US [fəɪʔ]

Fight has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-fight.ogg, En-us-fight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with fight

Also written: fit.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with fight?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fight from its last stressed vowel (/əɪt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of fight

  • fights present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • fighting participle, present
  • fought past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fight mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.

    My grandfather fought the Nazis in World War II.

  2. 2

    To conduct or engage in (battle, warfare, a cause, etc.).

    Our soldiers fought the battle just over that hill.

  3. 3

    To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle, etc.

    A wounded animal will fight tooth and nail; relentless, savage and murderous.

  4. 4

    To contend in physical conflict with each other, either singly or in war, battle, etc.

    The two boxers have been fighting for more than half an hour.

  5. 5

    To cause to fight; to manage or manoeuvre in a fight.

    to fight cocks; to fight one’s ship

  6. 6

    To strive for something; to campaign or contend for success.

    He fought for the Democrats in the last election.

  7. 7

    To try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.

    The government pledged to fight corruption.

  8. 8

    Of colours or other design elements: to clash; to fail to harmonize.

noun

  1. 1

    An occasion of fighting.

    One of them got stuck in a chokehold and got stabbed to death during the fight.

  2. 2

    archaicA battle between opposing armies.

  3. 3

    A physical confrontation or combat between two or more people or groups.

    Watch your language! Are you looking for a fight?

  4. 4

    A boxing or martial arts match.

    I’m going to Nick’s to watch the big fight tomorrow night.

  5. 5

    A conflict, possibly nonphysical, with opposing ideas or forces; strife.

    I’ll put up a fight to save this company.

  6. 6

    The will or ability to fight.

    That little guy has a bit of fight in him after all. As soon as he saw the size of his opponent, all the fight went out of him.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA screen for the combatants in ships; an arming.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse battre, guerroyer in war ((intransitive) to contend in physical conflict), combattre ((transitive) to contend in physical conflict…), lutte, combat (occasion of fighting), bataille (battle)
Germankämpfen, fechten, streiten ((intransitive) to contend in physical conflict), kämpfen gegen, kämpfen mit ((transitive) to contend in physical conflict…), Kampf (occasion of fighting)
Portugueselutar com, contra ((intransitive) to contend in physical conflict), combater ((transitive) to contend in physical conflict…), luta, briga (occasion of fighting), lutar (to strive for)
Spanishpelear, luchar, batirse, hacer armas ((intransitive) to contend in physical conflict), lucha (occasion of fighting), pelearse ((reciprocal) to contend in physical conflict…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fight come from?

From Middle English fighten (“to fight”), from Old English feohtan (“to fight, combat, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan (“to fight”), from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to comb, tease, shear, struggle with”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after fight