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shadowbox

verb [I]
 
 
/ˈʃæd.əʊ.bɒks/ US  /-oʊ.bɑːks/

Definition

to fight an imaginary enemy by hitting the air with your handsFighting to pretend to argue about or deal with a problem, often to avoid dealing with the most important problem: The main political parties are merely shadowboxing, instead of tackling the real economic problems facing this country.Arguing and disagreeing
(Definition of shadowbox verb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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