Dictionary

tug of war en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈtʌɡ əv ˌwɔː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈtʌɡ əv ˌwɔɹ/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. 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.
   • [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. 2005 June 16, Rachel Whiteread, Gordon Burn, “Rachel Whiteread in conversation with Gordon Burn”, in Embankment (The Unilever Series), London: Tate Publishing, →ISBN, page 74, column 2:
2. (idiomatic) A dispute between two parties, particularly an entrenched, back-and-forth dispute.
   • 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. 2008, Alexei Trochev, Judging Russia: The Role of the Constitutional Court in Russian Politics 1990-2006, →ISBN, page 72:

Forms

Deriveds

tug of love

Relateds

dig in one's heels

Translations (63)

sv dragkamp (game) · it tiro alla fune (game) · bg теглене на въже (game) · nan 搝大索 (game) · da trækkamp (game) · lt virvės traukimas (game) · cmn 拉鋸戰 /拉锯战 (dispute) · yi שלעפּפֿאַרמעסט (game) · ms tarik tali (game) · fi köydenveto (game) · mk натегање (game) · ar شَدّ اَلْحَبْل (game) · nan 擋索仔 /挡索仔 (game) · nb dragkamp (game) · fi köydenveto (dispute) · yue 扯大纜 /扯大缆 (game) · cmn 拔河 (game) · de Tauziehen (dispute) · vi kéo co (game) · yue 拔河 (game) · ru перетя́гивание кана́та (dispute) · is reiptog (game) · nl touwtrekken (game) · mi taukumekume (game) · ja 綱引き (game) · pl przeciąganie liny (game) · mi tauronarona (game) · it contesa (dispute) · fo togtogan (game) · gl tirapuxa (game) · th ชักเย่อ (game) · es tira y afloja (game) · sv dragkamp (dispute) · fr tir à la corde (game) · gl tirapuxa (dispute) · es cinchada [loca] (game) · cmn 爭執 /争执 (dispute) · es guerrita de soga (game) · id tarik tali (game) · nan 拔索 (game) · tr halat çekme (game) · ko 줄다리기 (game) · it partita (dispute) · hu kötélhúzás (game) · nan 拔大索 (game) · mnp 拔索 (game) · id tarik tambang (game) · pt cabo de guerra (game) · hak 挷索仔 (game) · rsk цаганє штранґа (game) · nl getouwtrek (game) · jje 줄ᄃᆞᆼ길락 (game) · eu sokatira (game) · fo togtogan (dispute) · wuu 拉繩 /拉绳 (game) · pl przeciąganie liny (dispute) · tl hilahan (game) · nn dragkamp (game) · de Tauziehen (game) · it disputa (dispute) · nan 搝索仔 (game) · ru перетя́гивание кана́та (game) · de Gezerre (dispute)