contend with

contend with (someone or something)

1. To compete against someone. Andy hasn't trained enough to contend with other swimmers his age. If you push him to enter this race, he'll just end up disappointed.
2. To struggle against or work to solve a problem or issue. I'm not ready to contend with that problem just yet—I need coffee first. How can we contend with these huge financial losses and still stay in business?
See also: contend
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

contend with someone (for something)

 and contend (with someone) for something
to fight someone for something; to compete with someone to win something. I don't want to have to contend with Sally for the award. I don't want to have to contend for the job with Ed.
See also: contend
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • contend with (someone or something)
  • contend with a problem
  • contend for (something)
  • contend
  • contend against
  • contend against (someone or something)
  • contend with (someone or something) for (something)
  • fight against
  • fight against (someone or something)
  • try a fall with
References in periodicals archive
[14] Because white men regularly raped Black women both for the purpose of white male sexual gratification and as a means of increasing the white man's property under the race-based slave system, Black women have had to contend with a very distinct history of race-based sexual violence and the resulting social stigma of sexual licentiousness, despite the fact that they had neither legal right to deny nor legal means to resist unwelcome white (and sometimes Black) sexual advances.
"So strangely interwoven": The Property of Inheritance, Race, and Sexual Morality in Pauline E. Hopkins's Contending Forces
They must contend with the emotional stress of knowing they are likely to develop a lethal disease.
The small band of cortisol researchers must also contend with scientists who remain deeply skeptical of the link between cortisol and AIDS.
The cortisol connection: does a stress hormone play a role in AIDS?