loggerhead
[law-ger-hed, log-er-]
- a thick-headed or stupid person; blockhead.
- loggerhead turtle.
- loggerhead shrike.
- a ball or bulb of iron with a long handle, used, after being heated, to melt tar, heat liquids, etc.
- a rounded post, in the stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon line is passed.
- a circular inkwell having a broad, flat base.
- at loggerheads, engaged in a disagreement or dispute; quarreling: They were at loggerheads over the distribution of funds.
Origin of loggerhead
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for loggerheads
Contemporary Examples
Even within the PLO the different factions are often at loggerheads and maneuver to gain the upper hand.
Money laundering had now become a political issue, and Mexican and U.S. officials remained at loggerheads.
President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are at loggerheads over how to form a Palestinian state.
In the next two years, the Republicans and Democrats will often be at loggerheads, mired in the gridlock of divided government.
Historical Examples
As to the possibility, however, the authorities are at loggerheads.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
Italy was at loggerheads with Austria, her ally, and about to break.
She had, however, a strong will, and was invariably at loggerheads with others.
A Zola DictionaryJ. G. Patterson
He and the village have been at loggerheads about the Institute, I believe.
Robert ElsmereMrs. Humphry Ward
Well, my dear fellow, we shall not come to loggerheads about that.
Orley FarmAnthony Trollope
loggerhead
- Also called: loggerhead turtle a large-headed turtle, Caretta caretta, occurring in most seas: family Chelonidae
- loggerhead shrike a North American shrike, Lanius ludovicianus, having a grey head and body, black-and-white wings and tail, and black facial stripe
- a tool consisting of a large metal sphere attached to a long handle, used for warming liquids, melting tar, etc
- a strong round upright post in a whaleboat for belaying the line of a harpoon
- archaic, or dialect a blockhead; dunce
- at loggerheads engaged in dispute or confrontation
Word Origin
C16: probably from dialect logger wooden block + head
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for loggerheads
loggerhead
n.
1580s, "stupid person, blockhead," perhaps from dialectal logger "heavy block of wood" + head (n.). Later it meant "a thick-headed iron tool" (1680s), a type of cannon shot, a type of turtle (1650s). Loggerheads "fighting, fisticuffs" is from 1670s, but the exact notion is uncertain, perhaps it suggests the heavy tools used as weapons. The phrase at loggerheads "in disagreement" is first recorded 1670s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with loggerheads
loggerheads
see at loggerheads.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.