trench warfare

(noun) a struggle (usually prolonged) between competing entities in which neither side is able to win. Synonyms: trench warfare. Example: "The hope that his superior campaigning skills would make a difference evaporated in the realization that electioneering had become a form of trench warfare."

(noun) a type of armed combat in which the opposing troops fight from trenches that face each other. Synonyms: trench warfare. Example: "Instead of the war ending quickly, it became bogged down in trench warfare."