# pissing war

idiom · Vulgar

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/pissing-war
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

An immature dispute over some trivial matter.

## Examples

- They are just having a silly pissing war over who is faster.
- The meeting turned into a pointless pissing war between the two managers over who had the bigger office.
- The board members grew tired of the endless pissing war between the departments, as it distracted everyone from the company's actual goals.

## Origin

The term is derived from the territorial behaviour of specific animals, such as male cats, which employ urine to mark the boundaries of their claims. The phrase likens human disputes over authority to this instinctual method of chemical mapping.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.