tug of war

US /ˌtʌɡ əv ˈwɔːr/
UK /ˌtʌɡ əv ˈwɔːr/
"tug of war" picture
1.

拔河

a contest in which two teams pull at opposite ends of a rope until one team succeeds in pulling the other over a central line

:
The annual picnic always features a lively game of tug of war.
年度野餐总是有热闹的拔河比赛。
Our team won the tug of war by a narrow margin.
我们队以微弱优势赢得了拔河比赛。
2.

拉锯战, 权力斗争

a situation in which two opposing groups are trying to win or gain control of something

:
There's a constant tug of war between the marketing and sales departments.
营销和销售部门之间存在持续的拉锯战
The budget negotiations turned into a real tug of war.
预算谈判变成了一场真正的拉锯战