War
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /wÉ”Ë/
- US IPA: /wɔɹ/
- Homophones: wore some dialects
- Rhymes: -É”Ë(ɹ)
Alternative forms
- warre obsolete
Origin
From Middle English werre, from Late Old English werre, wyrre "armed conflict" from Old Northern French werre (compare Old French guerre, guerre, whence modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra ("riot, disturbance, quarrel") from Proto-Germanic *werrÅ ("mixture, mix-up, confusion"), from Proto-Indo-European *wers- ("to mix up, confuse, beat, thresh"). Akin to Old High German werra ("confusion, strife, quarrel") (German verwirren), Old Saxon werran ("to confuse, perplex"), Dutch war ("confusion, disarray"), Old English wyrsa, wiersa ("worse"), Old Norse verri ("worse") (originally "confounded, mixed up"). Compare Latin versus ("against, turned"), past participle of vertere ("turn, change, overthrow, destroy"). More at worse, wurst.
Noun
war
(countable and uncountable; plural wars)- (uncountable) Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.
- 1917, Henry Ford, My Life and Work, Chapter 17:Nobody can deny that war is a profitable business for those who like that kind of money. War is an orgy of money, just as it is an orgy of blood.
- 2007, Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History:Germany declared war on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 1939, and England declared war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.
- 2013-07-20, Old soldiers?, Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine....One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
- The war was largely between Sunni and Shia militants.
- (countable) A particular conflict of this kind.
- 1865, Herman Melville, "The Surrender at Appomattox":All human tribes glad token seeIn the close of the wars of Grant and Lee.
- 1999, Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, November 8 1999:A second challenge will be to implement, with our allies, a plan of stability in the Balkans, so that the region's bitter ethnic problems can no longer be exploited by dictators and Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic again to fight in another war.
- (countable) By extension, any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.You look like you've been through the wars.
- (figuratively) A campaign against something.The "war on drugs" is a campaign against the use of narcotic drugs.The "war on terror" is a campaign against terrorist crime.In the US, conservatives rail against the "war on Christmas".
- (business, countable) A bout of fierce competition in trade.I reaped the benefit of the car dealerships' price war, getting my car for far less than it's worth.The cellular phone companies were engaged in a freebie war, each offering various services thrown in when one purchased a plan.
- (obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of war.
- PriorHis complement of stores, and total war.
- (obsolete) Armed forces.
- MiltonOn their embattled ranks the waves return,
And overwhelm their war. - (uncountable) A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Full definition of war
Verb
- (intransitive) To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
- circa 1599 William Shakespeare, King Henry V, act 3, sc. 1:Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more . . .Be copy now to men of grosser blood,And teach them how to war.
- 1882, George Bernard Shaw, Cashel Byron's Profession, ch. 14:This vein of reflection, warring with his inner knowledge that he had been driven by fear and hatred . . ., produced an exhausting whirl in his thoughts.
- To war the Scot, and borders to defend. — Daniel.
- To carry on, as a contest; to wage.That thou ... mightest war a good warfare. — Tim. i. 18.