Star Wars

American  

noun

1. a U.S. weapons research program begun in 1984 to explore technologies, including ground- and space-based lasers, for destroying attacking missiles and warheads.

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Star Wars British  

noun

1. Formal name: Strategic Defense Initiative.   SDI.  (in the US) a proposed system of artificial satellites armed with lasers to destroy enemy missiles in space

2. (modifier; sometimes not capitals) of, relating to, or denoting this system

   Star Wars defence

   star wars policy

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Star Wars ¹ Cultural  

1. A series of popular science fiction motion pictures created by George Lucas. The first trilogy debuted in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope. The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi followed in the 1980s. Prequels, Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, were recently released. The films are noted for combining classic themes of good versus evil with cutting-edge special effects.

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Star Wars ² Cultural  

1. A popular name, taken from the title of a film, for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of President Ronald Reagan. “Star Wars” involves the development by the United States of a defense in outer space against intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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Etymology

Origin of Star Wars

C20: popularly named after the science fiction film Star Wars (1977) by George Lucas

Example Sentences

Once the domain of science fiction, autonomous robots—think C-3PO from Star Wars or Baymax from Big Hero 6 —are getting closer by the year.

From Barron's

British YouTuber James Bruton wanted to build a giant walking robot from Star Wars – and ride around on it on his friend's tennis court.

From BBC

It's like Star Wars, you can turn to the dark side and let it eat you up.

From BBC

A tribute to 1980s sci-fi and horror stories by Steven Spielberg, Stephen King and others, it’s part of a larger TV push toward nostalgia in recent years, even if it isn’t based on intellectual property like all the “Star Wars” shows and sitcom revivals are.

From The Wall Street Journal

Through acquisitions of Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment and the “Star Wars” studio, LucasFilm, the company gained blockbuster franchises and popular characters, including Captain Marvel, Baby Yoda and Sheriff Woody from “Toy Story,” to populate movie theaters and theme parks.

From Los Angeles Times