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sitzkrieg

[sits-kreeg, zits-]
noun
  1. slow-moving warfare marked by repeated stalemate.
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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
  1. a period during a war in which both sides change positions very slowly or not at all
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Word Origin

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

n.

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."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper