at loggerheads
4
7.3
- idiom
- "We were at loggerheads during my first couple of months at the center.
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Watch on YouTubeEven though we're negotiating, we're still at loggerheads with each other.
- Even though we're negotiating, we're still at loggerheads with each other.
- And they're they're what we say we're they're in conflict or at loggerheads about it.
Examples
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Evangelicals and Catholics have been at loggerheads for much of American history.
Academic text (2007) -
America and Europe are at loggerheads over global warming and energy policy.
Academic text (1999) -
Even though we're negotiating, we're still at loggerheads with each other.
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The DPJ and the LDP are as internally divided as they are at loggerheads.
Academic text (2012) -
It jeopardizes a whole raft of other negotiations that the unions are already at loggerheads with management over.
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Now, 10 years later, industry and environmentalists again find themselves at loggerheads over TRI, but in a regulatory climate that differs starkly from that of a decade ago.
Academic text (1996) -
The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are at loggerheads; it became clear during the Telangana march here last Sunday.
Blog text (1) -
The union and management have been at loggerheads during the contract negotiations.
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After the debate, the candidates remained at loggerheads about the best approach to healthcare.
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Despite their attempts to compromise, the two countries are still at loggerheads over trade policies.
Synonyms
60
4.8
Not agreeing with someone or something
23
7.0
People argue or fight angrily with each other
Not friendly with someone because of an argument
In open, serious conflict with someone
Antonyms
How Hostile
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + loggerheads
The meaning 'in strong disagreement' is idiomatic and not compositionally derivable from 'at' + 'loggerheads'; 'loggerheads' is an archaic lexical item whose historical senses (a block, a tool, or a noun form) do not transparently signal conflict. Even if a learner knows 'at' and could parse 'logger' + 'head', the phrase’s historical/idiomatic development makes the sense unpredictable, so it would be opaque to a B1 learner.
Etymology
At loggerheads may come from the old word loggerhead, a heavy iron tool or wooden block that was used like a club; imagine two people facing each other with such heavy 'loggerheads' and fighting, and you get a strong image of conflict, which is why the phrase means 'in strong disagreement'.