hot war

noun

1. open military conflict; an armed conflict between nations:

   The increasing tension in the Middle East could lead to a hot war.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot war¹

First recorded in 1945–50; by analogy with cold war

Example Sentences

He endangered an ally in attempting to extort Ukraine in the middle of a hot war against Russia.

From Washington Post

She was apprehended before she had an opportunity to grab the microphone and give her prepared speech demanding “the end of all cold and hot wars.”

From Washington Post

Two events—one a hot war and another a diplomatic one—thrust the Israeli-Palestinian conflict yet again into the limelight.

From The Daily Beast

The development of nuclear weapons deterred the U.S. and the Soviet Union from the hot war they might otherwise have fought.

From The Daily Beast

The rest of my life was to be devoted to the Royal Navy, if only a hot war should come again; of which we already felt simmerings.

From Project Gutenberg

Now the bloom had passed away, and the dew dried up in the hot war-atmosphere.

From Project Gutenberg

During the holidays, hot war raged between Tod and his step-mother.

From Project Gutenberg

Unknown to Lewis and Clark, though they gradually came to discover it, hot war was waging in the north.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Moluccas also they had done much injury to the Spaniards, and a hot war was there expected.

From Project Gutenberg