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war

Pronunciation: /wɔː/
Translate war | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of war

noun

[mass noun]
  • a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country:Japan declared war on Germany the two countries were at war for the next eight years [count noun]:I fought in two wars
  • a state of competition or hostility between different people or groups:she was at war with her parents [count noun]:a price war among tour operators
  • a sustained campaign against an undesirable situation or activity:the authorities are waging war against smuggling [count noun]:a war on drugs

verb (wars, warring, warred)

[no object]
  • engage in a war:small states warred against each another figurativeconflicting emotions warred within her

Phrases

go to war

declare, begin, or see active service in a war: he joined the RAF before the country went to war of the four brothers who went to war, only Thomas survived

go to the wars

archaic serve as a soldier: I did all I could to dissuade him from going to the wars

be in the wars

informal be (or have been) injured:Roebuck continues to be in the wars and suffered a broken jaw

war clouds

used to refer to a threatening situation of instability in international relations:the war clouds were looming

war of attrition

a prolonged period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear down the other by a series of small-scale actions.

war of nerves

see nerve.

war of words

a prolonged, often acrimonious, debate: the political war of words over tax

war to end all wars

a war, especially the First World War, regarded as making subsequent wars unnecessary.

Origin:

late Old English werre, from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French guerre, from a Germanic base shared by worse

war in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of war in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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