tug of war

Definitions

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.
2. A dispute between two parties, particularly an entrenched, back-and-forth dispute.
   idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“[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.”

CEFR level