limited war

American  

noun

1. a war conducted with less than a nation's total resources and restricted in aim to less than total defeat of the enemy.

2. a war restricted to a relatively small area of the world and involving few warring nations.

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limited war British  

noun

1. a war in which the belligerents do not seek the total destruction of the enemy, esp one in which nuclear weapons are deliberately not used

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Etymology

Origin of limited war

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Since then, the United States returned to fight Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein; in Afghanistan, clear, limited war aims were never stated.

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2023

After becoming interested in theories of deterrence and limited war, he decided that nuclear strategy lent itself to his evolving ideas about bargaining and game theory.

From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2016

But it has been a greatly limited war of airstrikes under strict rules of engagement and a gradual buildup of 3,500 troops restricted to training and advising.

From Washington Times • Dec. 7, 2015

Wiesner, an engineer who had worked on both radar and the atomic bomb during the war, embraced the new focus on limited war and frantically pressed Kennedy to endorse a nuclear test ban.

From Slate • Sep. 4, 2015

The theoretical weakness of limited war at this point is the arrest of your offensive action.

From Some Principles of Maritime Strategy by Corbett, Julian S. (Julian Stafford)