loggerheads
loggerheads Lexical Profile
loggerheads Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A state of stubborn, contentious dispute or deadlock between opposing parties (used almost exclusively in the phrase 'at loggerheads').
"The city council and the mayor have been at loggerheads over the proposed transportation budget for months."
Plural form of loggerhead: large, carnivorous marine turtles (Caretta caretta) of the family Cheloniidae, found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide and distinguished by a massive, blocky head and reddish-brown carapace.
"Conservationists patrolled the sandy beaches at night to protect the nesting loggerheads and their eggs."
Word Nuance & Usage
In its figurative sense of fierce disagreement, 'loggerheads' is almost exclusively used within the fixed prepositional idiom 'at loggerheads' (often followed by 'with' or 'over').
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the late 16th century from dialectal 'logger' (a heavy block of wood tied to a horse's leg to prevent it from running) and 'head', originally meaning a blockhead before referring to an iron tool with a bulbous end heated to melt pitch.