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at loggerheads

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log⋅ger⋅head

  [law-ger-hed, log-er-]
Use at loggerheads in a Sentence
–noun
1. a thick-headed or stupid person; blockhead.
2. loggerhead turtle.
3. loggerhead shrike.
4. a ball or bulb of iron with a long handle, used, after being heated, to melt tar, heat liquids, etc.
5. a rounded post, in the stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon line is passed.
6. a circular inkwell having a broad, flat base.
—Idiom
7. at loggerheads, engaged in a disagreement or dispute; quarreling: They were at loggerheads over the distribution of funds.
Origin:
1580–90; logger block of wood (first attested alone in 18th century) + head

Related forms:
log⋅ger⋅head⋅ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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log·ger·head   (lô'gər-hěd', lŏg'ər-)   
n.  

  1. A loggerhead turtle.

  2. An iron tool consisting of a long handle with a bulbous end, used when heated to melt tar or warm liquids.

  3. Nautical A post on a whaleboat used to secure the harpoon rope.

  4. Informal

    1. A blockhead; a dolt.

    2. A disproportionately large head.


[Probably dialectal logger, wooden block (probably from log1) + head.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

at loggerheads

Engaged in a head-on dispute: “Labor and management are at loggerheads in this affair, and it may be some time before they can negotiate a settlement.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

loggerhead 
1588, "stupid person, blockhead," from dial. logger "heavy block of wood." Later it meant "a thick-headed iron tool" (1687), a type of cannon shot, a type of turtle (1657). Loggerheads "fighting, fisticuffs" is from 1680, but the exact notion is uncertain, perhaps it suggests the heavy tools used as weapons. The phrase at loggerheads "in disagreement" is first recorded 1831.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

at loggerheads

Engaged in a quarrel or dispute, as in The two families were always at loggerheads, making it difficult to celebrate holidays together. This term may have come from some earlier meaning of loggerhead, referring either to a blockhead or stupid person, or to a long-handled iron poker with a bulb-shaped end that was heated in the fire and used to melt pitch. If it was the latter, it may have been alluded to as a weapon. [Late 1600s] For a synonym, see at odds.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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