lock horns
Engage in conflict
To lock horns is to come into conflict or engage in dispute, from the image of horned animals—deer, rams, bulls—clashing head-to-head in combat.
The phrase usually describes arguments or power struggles rather than physical fights: The two senators locked horns over the budget proposal.
Management and labor have been locking horns for months.
- butt headsEngage in conflict
- contendStruggle in opposition
- cross swordsFight or argue fiercely
- confrontationDirect hostile encounter
- duelPrearranged one-on-one combat
rivalry · clash · face-off · spar · dispute · argue · war of words · wrangle · square off · compete · at loggerheads · at each other's throats · tangle · duke it out · battle it out · pick a fight · feud · quarrel
conflict vs. harmony
lock hornsagree
Hold the same view
see eye to eye · concur · reconcile · make peace · come to terms
lock, locked, unlock, locker, horns, unlocked, lockup, deadlock, locking