How to Use tussle in a Sentence

tussle

1 of 2 noun
  • The suspect was arrested after a tussle with a security guard.
  • The President is in for another tussle with Congress.
  • And how their play-tussles tended to end up.
    — Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 2025
  • So that tussle is still tussling.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
  • The tussle has been a lengthy one, and one that has played out very much in the public sphere.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 27 Feb. 2026
  • That’s home turf for them, which puts humans at greater risk for losing the tussle.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2026
  • Cue the tussle for your impulse-buying clicks.
    — NPR, 12 Nov. 2025
  • Not for the first time, a tussle broke out over the word patriotism.
    — Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The surfer managed to escape, but their board was damaged from the tussle.
    — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
  • By the end of the visual, the pair have a dinner table tussle, which ends on a fun cliffhanger.
    — Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Yeoh then pulls Grande away from the resulting tussle before the duo starts to walk away.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Paired with zucchini spears and pine nuts, your tongue tussles with pillowy soft textures and crunch.
    — Lyndsay C. Green, Freep.com, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Their confrontation over Ukraine might seem an arcane tussle of wills.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 4 Feb. 2022
  • After the tussle, pepper spray, and more threats of tasing, Nichols got away.
    — Lee Cowan, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2023
  • The man in civilian clothes runs up and tackles the gunman, wrestling a gun out of his hands after a brief tussle.
    — Omer Bekin, NBC news, 15 Dec. 2025
  • The legal tussle is working its way through federal court.
    — Andrea Flores jan. 8, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The next day, however, a football-style tussle left him injured.
    — Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The person then confronts the congressman and the two men get into a tussle.
    — Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 22 July 2022
  • The county’s investment pool should not be put at risk due to an HR tussle.
    — John Seiler, Oc Register, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Well, David Lee and Hibbert got in the tussle.
    — The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
  • The game was projected to be a tussle between the frontcourts, but foul trouble on both sides put a crimp in that plan.
    — David Smale, courant.com, 13 Mar. 2022
  • The tussle the two teams engaged in over 3 hours, 18 minutes was pretty much all about all of that.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
  • But an early birth can still quell some of the roughest aspects of the maternal-fetal tussle.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 14 Oct. 2022
  • As his tussles with grief and sobriety and heartbreak appear in flashes, so do red and blue police lights.
    — Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 26 June 2026
  • The tussle is part of a larger fight over the future of the Sepulveda Basin.
    — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2023
  • As the initial tussle calmed down, videos appeared to show a group of Black men confronting the White boaters.
    — Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2023
  • The show's Hot Topics segment feels more like a coffee clutch among close friends than a talk show tussle.
    — Jay Stahl, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2026
  • In the third case, an officer's hand was slightly punctured during a tussle with a suspect.
    — Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 7 July 2022
  • During the tussle, a group of long-distance swimmers went to swim by, and the shark ultimately bit a man's leg.
    — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Twitter came out swinging in its legal tussle with its would-be owner Elon Musk.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN, 19 July 2022

tussle

2 of 2 verb
  • Two players tussled for the ball.
  • The residents of the neighborhood tussled with city hall for years about the broken parking meters.
  • Ready for a chopped, tussled look?
    — Calin Van Paris, InStyle, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The courtroom tussling has some juice this week.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
  • So that tussle is still tussling.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Smith tussled with the man, pulling him to the ground, and called 911.
    — Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 25 July 2023
  • As for her glam, her hair was tussled into a messy bun with fringe and wisps of hair to frame her face.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The two tussled before the friend got in his car and drove away from the scene, the affidavit states.
    — Becky Jacobs, Post-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2018
  • The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained.
    — ABC News, 8 May 2026
  • At the same time, the city has also been tussling e-bike company Wheels.
    — Joshua Emerson Smith, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2019
  • Gunda, the mother pig of the title, cares for her adorably fuzzy and tussling newborn piglets.
    — Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Mar. 2023
  • He is said to be in the mix but Ohio State will likely tussle with a strong pull to keep him south.
    — Robert Fenbers, cleveland, 18 July 2021
  • The singer’s blond hair was tussled into a messy updo with strands of hair to frame Jackson’s face.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 1 Oct. 2025
  • In the meantime, these players will tussle for playing time elsewhere.
    — Larry Holder, NOLA.com, 15 May 2018
  • Nick Bosa grew up with no choice but to tussle with his brother, who is 27 months older.
    — Ron Kroichick, SFChronicle.com, 6 Dec. 2019
  • Tiffany argued about the decision with her twin, and then the siblings tussled with each other.
    — Jim Varsallone, miamiherald, 26 Apr. 2018
  • The two tussled and the second man wrenched away the weapon and shot his assailant, according to police.
    — Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2018
  • The officer then shoved Phillips, who tussled with the officer and took him to the ground.
    — David Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2026
  • In this case, Soule said a dog tussled with a fox, nearly killing it before his owners stepped in to end the fight.
    — Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 24 Dec. 2019
  • The two have tussled in past debates and Wednesday was no different.
    — Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2020
  • Apart from that, Spain and Portugal tussled out a thrilling 3-3 tie.
    — Martin Rogers, USA TODAY, 25 June 2018
  • The video then shows Arbery and another man appearing to tussle as two more shots are fired.
    — NBC News, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Two hummingbirds tussled in low branches.
    — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Fans can spend two days tracking celebrities and two days watching marquee players tussle for the trophy.
    — Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Every day, when Reddy got home from work, Kush would run toward the door and the two would tussle like kids.
    — Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 9 Dec. 2021
  • But when done correctly, smoking is a lovely way to pass an evening chinning with a friend or tussling with a bit of writing.
    — Luther Ray Abel, National Review, 16 Feb. 2023
  • Now, two teams that have plenty of momentum are poised to tussle in Columbia.
    — Creg Stephenson | [email protected], al, 24 Oct. 2020
  • In South Africa this moral intuition has tussled with a powerful fear of loss.
    — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 12 June 2018
  • Stewart left the bench to confront Bridges, who responded with a punch, and the players tussled.
    — Steve Reed, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
  • In one of them, Dubin’s son and daughter have been tussling over the bathroom door, her on one side of it, him on the other.
    — Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tussle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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