kemp

To strive or contend in any way; strive for victory, as in the quantity of work done by reapers in the harvest-field.

A champion; a knight.

The act of striving for superiority in any way.

Shaggy; rough.

Coarse hair which is closely mingled with the finer hair or wool, and has to be separated from it before the manufacturing of fine goods, especially in goat’s hair of choice and expensive kind.

Also kempty.

An eel.

A boar.

The ribwort-plantain, Plantago lanceolata, more especially the stalk and spike; also, the common plantain, Plantago major, and perhaps P. media

Coarse, rough hair in wool or fur, injuring its quality.