contend

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To strive in opposition or against difficulties; struggle.
• intransitive verb To strive in competition, as in a race; vie.
• intransitive verb To strive in controversy or debate; dispute.
• intransitive verb To assert or maintain.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To strive; struggle in opposition or emulation: used absolutely, or with against or with.
• To endeavor; use earnest efforts, as for the purpose of obtaining, defending, preserving, etc.: usually with for before the object striven after.
• To dispute earnestly; strive in debate; wrangle: as, the parties contend about trifles.
• To dispute; contest.
• To assert; affirm; maintain: as, I contend that the thing is impossible.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
• intransitive verb To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
• intransitive verb To strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
• transitive verb rare To struggle for; to contest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
• verb to struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
• verb to strive in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb come to terms with
• verb to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation
• verb have an argument about something
• verb compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
• verb be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
• verb maintain or assert