struggle vs skirmish

struggle and skirmish both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
struggle	Yes	No	Yes	No
skirmish	Yes	No	Yes	No

As verbs, skirmish is a hyponym of struggle; that is, skirmish is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than struggle:

struggle (noun)	skirmish (noun)
strenuous effort	a minor short-term fight
an energetic attempt to achieve something
an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)

struggle (verb)	skirmish (verb)
be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight	engage in a skirmish
to exert strenuous effort against opposition
climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
make a strenuous or labored effort