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

One possible explanation is that Tehran believes that, despite its risks, a limited war serves its interests better.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

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

To paraphrase the terminology of generative grammars, it was a limited war language, with not too many possible war sentences.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai