WordWeb Online

1. Maintain or assert
   "He contended that Communism had no future"
   - postulate
    
2. Have an argument about something
   - argue, debate, fence
    
3. To make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation
   - contest, repugn
    
4. Come to terms with
   - cope, get by, make out, make do, grapple, deal, manage
    
5. Compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
   - compete, vie
    
6. Be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
   "Militant groups are contending for control of the country"
   - fight, struggle

Derived forms: contended, contends, contending

See also: contender, contention

Type of: act, claim, converse, discourse, move, oppose