tug-of-war
noun
plural tugs-of-war
1
: a struggle for supremacy or control usually involving two antagonists
2
: a contest in which two teams pull against each other at opposite ends of a rope with the object of pulling the middle of the rope over a mark on the ground
Examples of tug-of-war in a Sentence
the effort to get their teenage son to keep his room clean is a constant tug-of-war
Recent Examples on the Web
After Eberechi Eze’s eleventh-hour rejection of Tottenham in favour of his boyhood club Arsenal last summer, the next transfer tug-of-war between the two north London rivals was not expected to arrive this soon.
—
Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Great Britain took home a silver in tug-of-war, just one of 41 medals British athletes won that year.
—Amy Crawford, Popular Science, 29 Jan. 2026
There was also a famed giant tug-of-war between South Austin and North Austin across Town Lake.
—Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 19 Jan. 2026
These images revealed this vast black hole jet is in a tug-of-war for dominance with the gravitational force of the rest of the galaxy.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 Jan. 2026
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Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Great Britain took home a silver in tug-of-war, just one of 41 medals British athletes won that year.
—Amy Crawford, Popular Science, 29 Jan. 2026
There was also a famed giant tug-of-war between South Austin and North Austin across Town Lake.
—Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 19 Jan. 2026
These images revealed this vast black hole jet is in a tug-of-war for dominance with the gravitational force of the rest of the galaxy.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug-of-war
Cite this Entry
“Tug-of-war.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tug-of-war. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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