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law of war

American  

noun

  1. rules or a code of rules governing the rights and duties of belligerents in an international war.


Etymology

Origin of law of war

First recorded in 1945–50


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The Pentagon’s own law of war manual prohibits “hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

Today, under the law of war, civilians are supposed to have protections, including against citizenship- or identity-based detentions or internment, as well as against forced repatriation.

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2025

“The law of war is cold,” said Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, an associate fellow at Chatham House, the London think thank, who previously worked as a lawyer for the Red Cross and the United Nations.

From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

“In accordance with the law of war, we’ve got to do what’s necessary to protect those civilians.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023

I think the Constitution invests its Commander-in-Chief with the law of war in the time of war.

From Slavery and Four Years of War, Vol. 1-2 A Political History of Slavery in the United States Together With a Narrative of the Campaigns and Battles of the Civil War In Which the Author Took Part: 1861-1865 by Joseph Warren Keifer

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