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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

Etymology

Origin of civil war

First recorded in 1540–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civil war Civil War

Evangelical Christianity has continued to spread in Guatemala since the end of the civil war in the 1990s, even among the Ixil themselves.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

Would you say things turned out better or worse than the future you predicted in “Life During Wartime”? Well, we’re not having a total civil war.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Turkey has championed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Sunni jihadist whose rebels in late 2024 ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, ending a brutal civil war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Much of his rule was defined by the civil war.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

As for Tawantinsuyu, smallpox wiped out Wayna Qhapaq and his court, which led to civil war as the survivors contested the spoils.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

The Civil War then gave new meaning to Key’s verses as the Union’s anthem while the Confederacy embraced “Dixie.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

These letters haven’t been issued since the Civil War, but the parallel is obvious and creates shades of gray that could present major problems.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

That case wouldn’t just go down as one of the most shameful moments in the court’s history; it was also the legal system’s most significant contribution in devolving the country into the Civil War.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

US actor Chadwick Boseman, who died aged 43 in 2020, four years after a colon cancer diagnosis, played the character in the original Black Panther movie, two Avengers films and Captain America: Civil War.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Wrapped in her prolonged mourning for Elisha, she was unaware of how much the Civil War had changed the country.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock