war

¹

[ wawr ]

noun

1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations:

   The two nations were at war with each other.

3. a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns:

   the War of 1812.

4. armed fighting, as a science, profession, activity, or art; methods or principles of waging armed conflict:

   War is the soldier's business.

5. active hostility or contention; conflict; contest:

   a war of words.

6. aggressive business conflict, as through severe price cutting in the same industry or any other means of undermining competitors:

   a fare war among airlines; a trade war between nations.

7. a struggle to achieve a goal:

   the war on cancer;

   a war against poverty;

   a war for hearts and minds.

8. Cards.
   1. a game for two or more persons, played with a 52-card pack evenly divided between the players, in which each player turns up one card at a time with the higher card taking the lower, and in which, when both turned up cards match, each player lays one card face down and turns up another, the player with the higher card of the second turn taking all the cards laid down.
   2. an occasion in this game when both turned up cards match.
9. Archaic. a battle.

verb (used without object)

, warred, war·ring.

1. to make or carry on war; fight:

   to war with a neighboring nation.

2. to carry on active hostility or contention:

   Throughout her life she warred with sin and corruption.

3. to be in conflict or in a state of strong opposition:

   The temptation warred with his conscience.

adjective

1. of, belonging to, used in, or due to war:

   war preparations; war hysteria.

war

²

[ wahr ]

adjective

, Scot. and North England.

1. worse.

war.

³

abbreviation for

1. warrant.

War.

¹

abbreviation for

1. Warwickshire

war

²

/ wɔː /

noun

1. open armed conflict between two or more parties, nations, or states belligerentmartial
2. a particular armed conflict

   the 1973 war in the Middle East

3. the techniques of armed conflict as a study, science, or profession
4. any conflict or contest

   a war of wits

   the war against crime

5. modifier of, relating to, resulting from, or characteristic of war

   a war story

   war damage

   a war hero

6. to have had a good war
   to have made the most of the opportunities presented to one during wartime
7. in the wars informal.
   (esp of a child) hurt or knocked about, esp as a result of quarrelling and fighting

verb

1. intr to conduct a war

Word History and Origins

Origin of war¹

First recorded before 1150; Middle English noun wer(re), war(re), late Old English werre, wyrre, from Old North French wer(r)e, waire, from Old Frankish werra (unrecorded), from Germanic; cognate with Old High German werra, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch werre “strife, discord”; verb derivative of the noun; akin to war ², worse

Origin of war²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wer(re), war(re), from Old Norse verri worse

Word History and Origins

Origin of war¹

C12: from Old Northern French werre (variant of Old French guerre ), of Germanic origin; related to Old High German werra

Idioms and Phrases

• all's fair in love and war
• at war
• been to the wars
• declare war
• tug of war

Example Sentences

And for all of his bluster, Trump‘s trade war with China was more limited than the one he‘s promising now.

From Slate

But here is where the interests of the incoming Trump regime align with those of us who surely would not like to endure another round of price increases for the sake of carrying out the single most morally unconscionable national domestic policy since the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II.

From Slate

Whereas Marian remains a soldier who won’t admit the war is over, Dolours, who would marry actor Stephen Rea, becomes more thoughtful and regretful with time, and suffers for it.

From Los Angeles Times

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

Television exploits our memory gaps, willful or unintended, by churning out period action dramas centered on history’s giant conflicts, most related to World War II. Unlike that endlessly commodified conflict, these chapters in Ireland’s history don’t turn up in most history teaching.

From Salon

Related Words

• battle
• bloodshed
• combat
• conflict
• fighting
• hostility
• strife
• strike
• struggle
• warfare