- a contest in which two people or teams pull opposite ends of a rope in an attempt to drag the opposition over a central line
- any hard struggle, esp between two equally matched factions
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ˈtug of ˈwar, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- an athletic contest between two teams at opposite ends of a rope, each team trying to drag the other over a line.
- any hard-fought struggle between any two opponents:a political tug of war between the two factions within the party.
tug′ of war′,
- an athletic contest between two teams at opposite ends of a rope, each team trying to drag the other over a line.
- a hard-fought, critical struggle for supremacy.
- 1875–80 for def. 1 1670–80 for def. 2
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
tug-of-war n
'tug of war' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):