at war

Idioms and Phrases

Engaged in armed conflict; also, in a state of disagreement. This term may be used literally, usually of nations or smaller groups engaged in armed hostilities, as well as hyperbolically, describing a mild disagreement as “war,” and figuratively, for an inner conflict. For example, The Greeks and Turks have been at war for many years (literally); The two families were at war about the bill for the wedding reception (hyperbolic); and, as Shakespeare put it in Measure for Measure (2:2): “I am at war 'twixt will and will not” (inner conflict of indecision). [Late 1300s]

Example Sentences

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Putin had expressed such a move would put Nato "at war" with Russia - as such strikes would ultimately be carried out not by Ukraine but by the countries that give permission for such use of missiles.

From BBC

The president-elect is also a strong supporter of Israel, which has been at war with the Iranian-backed groups Hamas and Hezbollah since Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel last year.

From BBC

As most of us won’t regard the IRA as an army at war, as it styled itself, but a terrorist organization — as was, certainly, its opposite number, the Ulster Defense Assn. — our hope will be that the sisters survive the IRA as much as their smuggling expeditions, bank robberies and prison terms.

From Los Angeles Times

The paramilitary RSF, led by general Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been at war with Sudan’s regular army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since April 2023 when the two former allies took up arms against each other in a ferocious power struggle.

From BBC

Israel is at war with Hamas and Hezbollah, and exchanged blows with both the Houthis in Yemen and their backers in Iran.

From BBC