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

The war against Iran has been a limited war, and its outcome is likely to be inconclusive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

In large measure because of that limited war aim, Bush was successful in obtaining both financial and military support from several nations, freeing Kuwait of Iraqi forces.

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2023

In the end, Schelling—the master theorist of deterrence strategy and limited war—could not come up with a single plausible answer when faced with a real limited war.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2021

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 that is a question of the economics of war; it is not a question of "limited war" or of "war for a limited object."

From Naval Warfare by Thursfield, James R.