A rare or archaic term possibly meaning to strive against, resist, or oppose through effort.
A compound of 'gain-' (meaning 'against') and 'strive,' suggesting to struggle or work against something. This appears to be an extremely rare Middle English formation with minimal documentation.
Gainstrive follows the same formation pattern as gainstand and gainsay—all three combine the 'against' prefix with different types of action verbs! This shows how productive that 'gain-' prefix was for creating opposite-action verbs.
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