tug of war

noun2

1. •
   A game or competition in which two teams pull or tug on opposite ends of a rope trying to force the other team over the line which initially marked the middle between the two teams.

   • [Gordon Burn:] You told me you had tugs-of-war with your sisters over small, common-or-garden, apparently insignificant household things, things that you felt meant more to you than the others. — 2005
2. •
   A dispute between two parties, particularly an entrenched, back-and-forth dispute.