war
Pronunciation: /wɔː/
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
- a state of competition or hostility between different people or groups: she was at war with her parents
- a sustained campaign against an undesirable situation or activity: the authorities are waging war against smuggling
verb ( wars, warring, warred)
Phrases
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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
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go to the wars
- archaic serve as a soldier: I did all I could to dissuade him from going to the wars
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be in the wars
- informal be (or have been) injured: Roebuck continues to be in the wars and suffered a broken jaw
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war clouds
- used to refer to a threatening situation of instability in international relations: the war clouds were looming
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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.
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war of nerves
- see nerve.
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war of words
- a prolonged, often acrimonious, debate: the political war of words over tax
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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