contend
to struggle or argue for a position
Roots
- com-: with, together, complete, or intensified
- tend / tens: stretch, strain, or extend
Other words with the tend / tens root
- contention: a claim or point of disagreement
- contentious: likely to cause argument
- detente: easing of tension
- distend: to swell by stretching outward
- tension: strain from being stretched or pulled
Contend is tension in argument: positions pull against each other until one side has to answer.
Several scholars contended that the passage was satirical rather than literal.