at loggerheads

Cultural  

1. Engaged in a head-on dispute: “Labor and management are at loggerheads in this affair, and it may be some time before they can negotiate a settlement.”

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at loggerheads Idioms  

1. Engaged in a quarrel or dispute, as in The two families were always at loggerheads, making it difficult to celebrate holidays together. This term may have come from some earlier meaning of loggerhead, referring either to a blockhead or stupid person, or to a long-handled iron poker with a bulb-shaped end that was heated in the fire and used to melt pitch. If it was the latter, it may have been alluded to as a weapon. [Late 1600s] For a synonym, see at odds.

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Example Sentences

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads over how the pandemic agreement, which was adopted last year, will work in practice.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

More than a year later, they are at loggerheads on a major potential fix that could cost $50,000 per airplane.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over key issues ranging from trade tariffs to the Middle East war and Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

For many, having the government on their side helps when they are at loggerheads with pre-teens desperate to get on to social media.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

Mama and I are often at loggerheads about the weirdest things, like how people in villages lived a hundred years ago.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• aggressive
• antagonistic
• bellicose
• combative
• contentious
• hostile
• ornery
• quarrelsome