English
Etymology
The phrase is derived from the territorial behaviour of certain animals, such as male cats, which mark territorial claims with urine.
Noun
piss|pissing war
- An often vicious conflict in which combatants contend for dominance over certain territory.
- A pissing contest.
- A (nonphysical) conflict of ideology.
#: We didn't do any press because we were just going to get in a pissing war [...] -- Matt Stone, creator of w:South Park|South Park, in an interview with w:CNN|CNN 1.
#: The other two [...] are in a righter-than-thou pissing war. -- Geov Parrish, 2 3.
#: It's a pissing war. -- Steve Duplessie, senior analyst to the Enterprise Storage Group, in an interview with Byte and Switch, 4.
#: [H]e's devoting too much psychic energy to an ideological pissing war with Monty Kipps. -- Joy Press, 5.
Usage notes
The phrase may be considered vulgar.
The phrase is sub-standard for pissing contest.
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