English

Noun

rope-a-dope ‎(plural rope-a-dopes)

1. (boxing) A technique in which the boxer assumes a defensive stance against the ropes and absorbs an opponent's blows, hoping to exploit eventual tiredness or a mistake.
   • 1999, James W Hall, Tropical Freeze

     He sounded like a retired boxer who'd specialized in the rope-a-dope.

   • 2003, Steve Hamilton, North of Nowhere

     I went into my own version of Ali's rope-a-dope, ducking as many of the heavy blows as I could, and waiting for some kind of idea to come to me.

2. (figuratively) Any strategy where an apparently losing position is assumed in the hope of eventual victory.
   • 2002, Steven Hill, Fixing Elections

     ...process that in recent years has degenerated, sadly, into one long scorched-earth campaign filled with partisan rancor and legislative rope-a-dope.

   • 2007, Robert Shrum, No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner

     Maybe, I suggested, it was the old rope-a-dope to lower expectations, but that was tougher for him than it had been in 2000: He was now the president.