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

See Examples For:

limited war

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

Those ties widened into a security relationship after 1999, when India fought a limited war with Pakistan over Kashmir and Israel helped New Delhi with arms and ammunition.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2023

Korea was frustrating in part because, like Ukraine, it was a limited war.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 2, 2022

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 in limited war, as we shall see, this need not be the case, and if without making these sacrifices we are able to act mainly on the defensive our position becomes exceedingly strong.

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