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.

Translations

to offer some form of resistance to an attack

• Finnish: taistella vastaan, tapella vastaan, laittaa vastaan
• Polish: stawiać opór impf, stawić opór pf
• Swedish: göra motstånd (sv), streta emot (sv)