Star Wars

American  

noun

1. a U.S. weapons research program begun in 1984 to explore technologies, including ground- and space-based lasers, for destroying attacking missiles and warheads.

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Star Wars British  

noun

1. Formal name: Strategic Defense Initiative.   SDI.  (in the US) a proposed system of artificial satellites armed with lasers to destroy enemy missiles in space

2. (modifier; sometimes not capitals) of, relating to, or denoting this system

   Star Wars defence

   star wars policy

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Star Wars ¹ Cultural  

1. A series of popular science fiction motion pictures created by George Lucas. The first trilogy debuted in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope. The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi followed in the 1980s. Prequels, Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, were recently released. The films are noted for combining classic themes of good versus evil with cutting-edge special effects.

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Star Wars ² Cultural  

1. A popular name, taken from the title of a film, for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of President Ronald Reagan. “Star Wars” involves the development by the United States of a defense in outer space against intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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Etymology

Origin of Star Wars

C20: popularly named after the science fiction film Star Wars (1977) by George Lucas

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Star Wars

Brooches that refer to various Chanel collections are assembled out of Legos, bits of Star Wars action figures, and other bric-a-brac, gleaming in jewelry cases and elevating these childish materials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by American filmmaker and Star Wars creator George Lucas and his wife, is set to open later this month in Los Angeles, California.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Disney got to work making spin-offs of spin-offs of stories about a bounty hunter who had around 10 minutes of screen time in the original Star Wars trilogy.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

The biggest announcements and takeaways from Disney’s D23 showcase on upcoming film and TV projects from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and more.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

They played video games, the first being an early Star Wars game that they could play against each other after Keith used his wizardry to connect two computers together—an early, jerry-rigged, multiplayer game.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel