been to the wars

Idioms  

1. Show signs of rough treatment or injury, as in That car of yours looks as though it's been to the wars. This term dates from the late 1300s, when, however, it tended to be used literally. The figurative usage is more recent.

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Example Sentences

Several of Jeremy's ancestors had been to the wars, among them his great-great-grandfather Silas Jeremy, who had fought under Wolfe at the capture of Quebec, and probably under Monckton in some earlier campaign.

From Project Gutenberg

We have been to the wars, but not to fight; we left that to the Busné. 

From Project Gutenberg

Newspapers are practically designed to self-destruct after a single reading – if you've ever picked up a daily paper in a cafe around suppertime after it's been handled by a day's worth of patrons, you know that this is a *personal* tech, and that after a pass-along or two, it starts to look like it's been to the wars.

From The Guardian

Kate and Margaret were wounded as if they'd been to the wars, Hilda too and Olga owe her very aggravating scars.

From Project Gutenberg

Walter had ornamented her face with several deep digs of the scissors, which made her look as if she had been to the wars and come home with a number of bullet holes in her.

From Project Gutenberg