lock horns

Idioms  

1. Become embroiled in conflict, as in At the town meeting Kate and Steve locked horns over increasing the property tax. This expression alludes to how stags and bulls use their horns to fight one another. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lock horns

The wiggle room has left courts to lock horns over the most basic facts before them — including whether what the president claims must be provably true.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

It is deja vu as Liverpool and Chelsea lock horns in a major final once again.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024

That focus on transparency — honed during his early years in Australia — saw him lock horns with the church’s bureaucracy over his attempts to audit the Vatican’s assets and spending.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2023

Prosecutors typically file charges, then lock horns with defense lawyers in front a judge who decides whether there’s enough evidence to go to trial.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2022

Some guards would start out at A-block, then lock horns with Sergeant Wickersham, and thereafter be sentenced by mutual agreement to B-block.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover