From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrunning battle/jokerunning battle/jokeARGUEan argument or joke that continues or is repeated over a long period of time → running
Examples from the Corpus
running battle/joke• The fighters quickly pursued them and eventually shot down every one in a running battle.• A man whose name is so synonymous with a suntan that it is a running joke in Doonesbury?• Police and demonstrators regularly engage in running battles near Mr Suharto's home in central Jakarta.• An even longer running battle was fought in the royal dockyards.• I was not told, when we left, that I should have to fight a running battle with four hundred horsemen.• As well as his running battle with Monkou, he left stud marks on defender Richard Hall.• In the resulting confrontation several hundred Mohawks armed with clubs and guns fought running battles with police.• They saw graffiti on important public memorials and they saw running battles with the police. 