sitzkrieg

[sits-kreeg, zits-]

noun

slow-moving warfare marked by repeated stalemate.

Origin of sitzkrieg

1935–40; < German, equivalent to sitz(en) to sit¹ + Krieg war; modeled on blitzkrieg

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for sitzkrieg

sitzkrieg

noun

a period during a war in which both sides change positions very slowly or not at all

Word Origin for sitzkrieg

C20: from German, from sitzen to sit + Krieg war

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sitzkrieg

1940, "static warfare" (such as prevailed in Europe in the winter of 1939-40), R.A.F. coinage on analogy of blitzkrieg (q.v.), from German sitz "a sitting."