To get ready for a confrontation (debate, argument, fight).
To increase the boxiness of (a design).
To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for or against), to contend.
To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
A contortion of the body in an attempt to escape or to perform a difficult task.
Strife, contention, great effort.