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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

After more than a decade of civil war, his two main international backers, Russia and Iran, were bogged down in wars elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

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

Afghanistan has endured repeated hunger crises in recent decades as it has struggled through civil war and other crises.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Atahuallpa and his army came to be at Cajamarca because they had just won decisive battles in a civil war that left the Incas divided and vulnerable.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The question was an urgent one to Americans amid the rising tensions leading up to the Civil War.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

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

The law was originally meant to grant citizenship to American-born, formerly enslaved people following the American Civil War.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Following the Civil War, party alignment was almost entirely regional.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander