fight sb/sth (WITHOUT against): ‘He said he would fight anyone who tried to stop him.’ ‘The best way to fight a cold is to get plenty of sleep.’ You can use either fight sb/sth or fight against sb/sth when you are talking about a long struggle to overcome things such as poverty, disease, injustice or oppression: ‘The ANC has spent half a century fighting (against) racism.’ ‘The group was founded in 1983 to fight (against) the military regime.’ fill You’ll have to fill
an application form.
You’ll have to fill in an application form. fill in/out a form, coupon etc: ‘To open a new account, you have to fill in an application form.’ ‘Remember to fill out the counterfoil.’ fill in an empty space on a form, coupon etc: ‘Just fill in Section A.’ fill in details on a form: ‘Fill in your name and address and then sign the form at the bottom.’ Note that fill out is more common in American English. filled with My shoes were filled with water so I took them off.
My shoes were full of water so I took them off. The eight o’clock train is usually filled with office workers.
The eight o’clock train is usually full of office workers. be filled with = containing so many or so much that there is no empty space left: ‘The first drawer was filled with neat piles of shirts.’ ‘The front page is filled with the most important news items.’ be full of = (1) containing a large number or amount: ‘The kitchen was full of flies.’ ‘The essay was full of mistakes.’ (2) be filled with: ‘The kettle was full of boiling water.’ finally It was difficult to understand people for a long time but finally I got used to their
accent.
