world war
Americannoun
-
world wars
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of world war
First recorded in 1910–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After the second world war, sugar remained rationed in Britain for several years.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
"It will be Africa's second world war," he said, alluding to the 1998-2003 Congo war that involved nine African nations.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
She has lived through a significant chunk of American history, including a world war, the Great Depression, the civil-rights movement, and the unfortunate advent of pickleball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
There’s nothing coincidental in the fact that military schools also rose up around then, and that they kept multiplying past the first world war and up to the second one.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
He was already thinking about the role America’s scientists might play in the world war lurking on the horizon.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
