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cold war

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noun

intense economic, political, military, and ideological rivalry between nations, short of military conflict; sustained hostile political policies and an atmosphere of strain between opposed countries.
a continuing state of resentful antagonism between two parties short of open hostility or violence.
(initial capital letters) rivalry after World War II between the Soviet Union and its satellites and the democratic countries of the Western world, under the leadership of the United States.

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RELATED WORDS

antagonism, rivalry, tension
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cold war

Historical Examples of cold war

  • In the two camera-cases Coburn was sure that he had the cryptic device that was responsible for the failure of a cold-war raid.

    The Invaders

    William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for cold war

cold war

noun

a state of political hostility and military tension between two countries or power blocs, involving propaganda, subversion, threats, economic sanctions, and other measures short of open warfare, esp that between the American and Soviet blocs after World War II (the Cold War)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cold war
n.

used in print October 1945 by George Orwell; popularized in U.S. c.1947 by Bernard Baruch.

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. [Woody Allen, "My Speech to the Graduates," 1979]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for cold war

cold war

A constant nonviolent state of hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States. The cold war began shortly after World War II, with the rapid extension of Soviet influence over eastern Europe and North Korea. With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the cold war ended. (See Berlin airlift, Berlin wall (see also Berlin wall), and Iron Curtain.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.