custody battle
25
4.4
- noun
- /ˈkʌstədi ˈbætəl/
:
lucha por la custodia
- In addition, many of the divorces filed each year involve minor children, with custody battles that often become contentious.
- a bitter custody battle
- a nasty custody battle
- a child custody battle
And so this is a custody battle between you guys and who?
- And so this is a custody battle between you guys and who?
- And so I've seen a number of divorces, child custody battles over situations like that.
- Two years ago, we met Jamie when she was involved in a custody battle with her own mother, Allison, over Jamie's two daughters.
- part of it was a custody battle, and he did manage despite his decline
- And there she's fighting, you know, custody battle and, and you know, child molestation case.
- Maybe you even had to go through a painful divorce, custody battle or just have to tolerate the smear campaign, flying monkeyed mess that is the breakup.
- And at that point, she was mired into custody battle, divorce, money, nightmare beginning was getting out was no longer so good.
- And at that point, she was mired in a custody battle, divorce, money, nightmare beginning was getting out was no longer so good.
Examples
-
The divorce and custody battle were not settled for another year after that.
Fiction book (2002) -
The mother of five was locked in a bitter divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband.
-
I wish you the very best of luck with your daughter and the custody battle.
-
I'm in the middle of a custody battle.
-
The children had been the subject of a bitter custody battle between their parents, two prominent Park Avenue physicians.
Fiction book (1994) -
Sometimes, custody battles erupted between the biological parents.
Academic text (2008) -
Two years ago, we met Jamie when she was involved in a custody battle with her own mother, Allison, over Jamie's two daughters.
-
The raid made international headlines and sparked the largest child custody battle in U.S. history.
-
I have been through several custody battles, and I was upset at the situation I was in.
Synonyms
384
3.0
A serious argument about something important that lasts a long time
27
3.5
A court case between two people or groups who disagree about legal rights
10
4.4
A legal process to decide who will live with and care for a child after parents separate
How Contested
25
4.4
- Formal
∞
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'custody' (legal responsibility for care) with 'battle' (a struggle or fight), so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer a struggle or dispute over custody. This is a straightforward, compositional metaphorical use of 'battle' for a conflict and follows common cross-linguistic patterns (e.g., 'custody dispute'), making the meaning predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Custody battle comes from a clear image: custody means 'to look after' and battle means 'a fight'. It comes from parents arguing in court over who will care for their children, so today it means a legal fight to decide who has the children.