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war of words

idiom
Meaning

A heated exchange of threatening or inflammatory statements.


Examples
SIMPLE

The two neighbors are having a war of words over the fence.

CONTEXTUAL

The election campaign turned into a bitter war of words between the two candidates as they attacked each other's policies.

COMPLEX

What began as a minor disagreement regarding the contract quickly escalated into a prolonged war of words that damaged the professional relationship between the two firms.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    empty words

    Any type of talk with little meaning; a message that seems to contain meaningful content but is actually vapid.

  2. 02

    have words

    To argue, to have an argument.

  3. 03

    man of few words

    A man who doesn't speak much; a habitually terse or taciturn man.

  4. 04

    mark my words

    Listen to me; used before or after a statement one wishes to emphasize, especially a prediction.

  5. 05

    mince words

    To restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.

  6. 06

    mouth the words

    To speak insincerely.

  7. 07

    or words to that effect

    used to indicate a paraphrase or the chance of an error in the details of reported speech.

  8. 08

    pissing war

    An immature dispute over some trivial matter.

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