tug of war

Definition

A game or competition in which two teams pull or tug on opposite ends of a rope trying to force the other team over the line which initially marked the middle between the two teams.

Example Sentences

• "[Gordon Burn:] You told me you had tugs-of-war with your sisters over small, common-or-garden, apparently insignificant household things, things that you felt meant more to you than the others."
• "To sum up, the dynamics of a "tug-of-war" between the supporters and opponents of the powerful and independent constitutional court dispel the traditional version of judicial empowerment as a struggle between “prostrong Court” reformers and antistrong Court” reactionaries."