tug-of-war

T t

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [tuhg uhv, ov wawr]
- /tʌg ʌv, ɒv wɔr/
- /tʌɡ əv wɔː(r)/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [tuhg uhv, ov wawr]
- /tʌg ʌv, ɒv wɔr/

Definitions of tug-of-war word

noun tug-of-war an athletic contest between two teams at opposite ends of a rope, each team trying to drag the other over a line. 1
noun tug-of-war a hard-fought, critical struggle for supremacy. 1
noun tug-of-war game: pulling on rope 1
variable noun tug-of-war A tug-of-war is a sports event in which two teams test their strength by pulling against each other on opposite ends of a rope. 0
variable noun tug-of-war You can use tug-of-war to refer to a situation in which two people or groups both want the same thing and are fairly equally matched in their struggle to get it. 0
noun tug-of-war 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 0

See all 9 definitions of tug-of-war

Information block about the term

Origin of tug-of-war

First appearance:

before 1670

One of the 47% oldest English words

1670-80 for def 2; 1875-80 for def 1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Tug-of-war

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Tug-of-war

tug-of-war popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 39% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

Synonyms for tug-of-war

noun tug-of-war

competition — Competition is a situation in which two or more people or groups are trying to get something which not everyone can have.
concours — a contest, esp the concours d'élégance
conflict — Conflict is serious disagreement and argument about something important. If two people or groups are in conflict, they have had a serious disagreement or argument and have not yet reached agreement.
contest — A contest is a competition or game in which people try to win.
counterinsurgency — action taken by a government to counter the activities of rebels, guerrillas, etc

All 11 Synonyms of tug-of-war