Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Strive

Strive , intransitive verb

[Old French estriver; of Teutonic origin, and akin to German streben, Dutch streven, Danish straebe, Swedish strafva. Compare Strife.]

1.
To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard. [Rarely]
Was for this his ambition strove To equal Caesar first, and after, Jove? — Cowley
2.
To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest; -- followed by against or with before the person or thing opposed; as, strive against temptation; strive for the truth. — Chaucer
My Spirit shall not always strive with man. — Gen. vi. 3
Why dost thou strive against him? — Job xxxiii. 13
Now private pity strove with public hate, Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate. — Denham
3.
To vie; to compete; to be a rival. — Chaucer
[Not] that sweet grove Of Daphne, by Orontes and the inspired Castalian spring, might with this paradise Of Eden strive. — Milton

Strive , noun

1.
An effort; a striving. [Rare] — Chapman
2.
Strife; contention. [Obsolete] — Wyclif (luke xxi. 9)