TUG-OF-WAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tug-of-war mean? 

• TUG-OF-WAR (noun)
  The noun TUG-OF-WAR has 2 senses:

1. any hard struggle between equally matched groups

2. a contest in which teams pull of opposite ends of a rope; the team dragged across a central line loses

  Familiarity information: TUG-OF-WAR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TUG-OF-WAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any hard struggle between equally matched groups

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("tug-of-war" is a kind of...):

battle; conflict; struggle (an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A contest in which teams pull of opposite ends of a rope; the team dragged across a central line loses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("tug-of-war" is a kind of...):

athletic competition; athletic contest; athletics (a contest between athletes)

 Context examples 

On November 24 (plus or minus two days), Mars will directly oppose Uranus at a 180-degree tug-of-war.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As Europa and Enceladus move in their orbits, a gravitational tug-of-war between their respective parent planets and neighboring moons keeps their orbits from becoming circular.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)

This tortured moon is embroiled in a gravitational tug-of-war between Jupiter and other Jovian satellites, causing intense tidal heating within its interior.

(Massive Lava Waves Detected on Solar System’s Most Volcanically Active Object, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)