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• civil war
  civil war

  noun

  a war between political factions or regions within the same country.
• Civil War
  Civil War

  noun

  English history the conflict between Charles I and the Parliamentarians resulting from disputes over their respective prerogatives. Parliament gained decisive victories at Marston Moor in 1644 and Naseby in 1645, and Charles was executed in 1649

civil war

American  

[siv-uhl wawr] / ˈsɪv əl ˈwɔr /

noun

• civil wars
  plural

1. a war between political factions or regions within the same country.

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civil war ¹ British  

noun

1. war between parties, factions, or inhabitants of different regions within the same nation

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Civil War ² British  

noun

1. English history the conflict between Charles I and the Parliamentarians resulting from disputes over their respective prerogatives. Parliament gained decisive victories at Marston Moor in 1644 and Naseby in 1645, and Charles was executed in 1649

2. history the war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the North and the South, sparked off by Lincoln's election as president but with deep-rooted political and economic causes, exacerbated by the slavery issue. The advantages of the North in terms of population, finance, and communications brought about the South's eventual surrender at Appomattox

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Civil War Cultural  

1. The war fought in the United States between northern (Union) and southern (Confederate) states from 1861 to 1865, in which the Confederacy sought to establish itself as a separate nation. The Civil War is also known as the War for Southern Independence and as the War between the States. The war grew out of deep-seated differences between the social structure and economy of North and South, most notably over slavery; generations of political maneuvers had been unable to overcome these differences (see Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850). The secession of the southern states began in late 1860, after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The Confederacy was formed in early 1861. The fighting began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. Most of the battles took place in the South, but one extremely crucial episode, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the North. The war ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. (See Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Chancellorsville, Emancipation Proclamation, and Sherman's march to the sea.)

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The Civil War has been the most serious test yet of the ability of the United States to remain one nation.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• civil wars
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of civil war

First recorded in 1540–50

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civil war Civil War

Omar’s family fled civil war in Somalia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1995 when she was 12.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

The U.A.E. rejects any characterization that it has supplied any party weapons in Sudan’s civil war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

The coup ousting Suu Kyi also triggered a civil war in Myanmar, where she won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent campaign for democracy.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

A global children's charity has said it will not release a report that it commissioned to investigate its role in separating children from their families during Syria's civil war.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

I was so happy to be the first one on the scene and wrote down all my impressions—just as Hemingway did in Spain during their civil war, and Crane after the sinking of the Commodore.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos

The movie, out in select US theaters, begins in 1932 in Granada, amidst the tensions that ultimately led to the Spanish Civil War before winding through history to wrap up in 2017 in modern-day Madrid.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

The whitewashed building, which has been here since the days of the American Civil War, rises from the surrounding scrub and sits about 200 yards from the Rio Grande river itself.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

“To write a film about Lorca and the Civil War called for something refreshing, something pop, something that entices you to look at the screen, something new — and he has it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Jay Cooke, the titanic banker of his era, sold the bonds that helped the North win the Civil War.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Facing an uncertain fate, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, eventually settling in Chile.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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