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• tug of war
  tug of war

  noun

  an athletic contest between two teams at opposite ends of a rope, each team trying to drag the other over a line.
• tug-of-war
  tug-of-war

  noun

  a contest in which two people or teams pull opposite ends of a rope in an attempt to drag the opposition over a central line

tug of war

American  

noun

1. an athletic contest between two teams at opposite ends of a rope, each team trying to drag the other over a line.

2. a hard-fought, critical struggle for supremacy.

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tug-of-war British  

noun

1. a contest in which two people or teams pull opposite ends of a rope in an attempt to drag the opposition over a central line

2. any hard struggle, esp between two equally matched factions

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tug of war Idioms  

1. A struggle for supremacy, as in There's a constant political tug of war between those who favor giving more power to the states and those who want a strong federal government. Although there is an athletic contest also so named, in which participants holding either end of a rope try to pull each other across a dividing line, the present usage, first recorded in 1677, predates it by about two centuries. The noun tug itself means “a strenuous contest between two sides,” and war refers to fighting, either physical or figurative.

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Etymology

Origin of tug of war

1670–80 tug of war for def. 2; 1875–80 tug of war for def. 1

Explanation

Tug-of-war is a game or contest in which two teams pull hard on the opposite ends of a long rope. Any struggle that feels like this can also be called a tug-of-war. A figurative tug-of-war can be any situation with two well-matched opponents, like a tug-of-war between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress or a tug-of-war between environmentalists and supporters of the oil industry. This meaning of "a struggle between two equally matched groups" arose in the 17th century, long before the actual athletic competition, which dates from around 1875.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tug of war tug-of-war

With the Iran war now well into its third month, countries are scrambling to circumvent the geopolitical tug of war by transitioning more quickly to renewables.

From Salon ● May 16, 2026

That tug of war is likely to cement central bank officials’ instincts to sit still and wait for clarity rather than act pre-emptively.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026

The media giant is in the middle of a takeover tug of war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix, and it’s anyone’s guess who will win.

From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday after a wild day on Wall Street in which metals surged, the price of oil spiked and a tug of war erupted in equities.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 29, 2026

She watched him hugging her mother and sister and she sighed, feeling the familiar tug of war in her heart.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

The furious mum said the situation got "frightening" and her son had a "tug-of-war" with the youths to get his bike back.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Gutiérrez and Vargas, like many standout Mexican American players over the last 15 years, began their paths with “El Tri” amid a long-standing tug-of-war between their birth country and the country of their parents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher after another tug-of-war day for markets as AI fever contended with Mideast disquiet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

That argument that this is about national security has a lot to do with the legal tug-of-war that’s going on now about whether he can finish building.

From Slate ● May 7, 2026

Once at the Fourth of July picnic they had tug-of-war, and the losing side got pulled into a puddle, which looked pretty funny unless it was you in the mud.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick