square off
phrasal verb

- to prepare to fight, compete, or argue with someone

Cambridge Dictionary

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The English word "square", as a noun, came into the language around 1300, when it referred to a tool for determining right angles. By the end of the century, it was used as a verb to mean make something square.

In boxing or wrestling, when opponents square off, they take a certain position in which they face each other with their arms more or less at right angles.

Squaring off also describes a style of trading on the stock market. Investors or traders buy or sell an asset and then reverse the transaction later the same day.

Since the 1940s, the word square has been used to mean uncool. This is said to come from the hand motions of an orchestra conductor keeping the traditional four-beat tempo.

Here are some other common expressions using "square":

- square the circle = try to do the impossible (Cheaper and better? That's squaring the circle)

- fair and square = straightforward (I thought my proposal was better, but he won the director's approval fair and square)

- square away = put something in its proper place (Let me get these items squared away and we can head to the pub, OK?)

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SYNONYMS

compete, contend, duel, fight, battle, attack, take on

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"The heads of regions south-east and south-west are SQUARING OFF for the upcoming budget meeting."