war
noun
a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
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war
1 American
[wawr]
/ wɔr /
noun
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wars
plural
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a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.
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a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations.
The two nations were at war with each other.
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a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns.
the War of 1812.
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armed fighting, as a science, profession, activity, or art; methods or principles of waging armed conflict.
War is the soldier's business.
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active hostility or contention; conflict; contest.
a war of words.
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aggressive business conflict, as through severe price cutting in the same industry or any other means of undermining competitors.
a fare war among airlines; a trade war between nations.
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a struggle to achieve a goal.
the war on cancer;
a war against poverty;
a war for hearts and minds.
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Cards.
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a game for two or more persons, played with a 52-card pack evenly divided between the players, in which each player turns up one card at a time with the higher card taking the lower, and in which, when both turned up cards match, each player lays one card face down and turns up another, the player with the higher card of the second turn taking all the cards laid down.
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an occasion in this game when both turned up cards match.
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Archaic. a battle.
verb (used without object)
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wars,
present (3rd person singular)
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warred,
past participle, past
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warring
present participle
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to make or carry on war; fight.
to war with a neighboring nation.
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to carry on active hostility or contention.
Throughout her life she warred with sin and corruption.
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to be in conflict or in a state of strong opposition.
The temptation warred with his conscience.
adjective
war
2
American
[wahr]
/ wɑr /
adjective
Scot. and North England.
war.
3
American
abbreviation
war
1
British
/ wɔː /
noun
-
open armed conflict between two or more parties, nations, or states
-
a particular armed conflict
the 1973 war in the Middle East
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the techniques of armed conflict as a study, science, or profession
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any conflict or contest
a war of wits
the war against crime
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(modifier) of, relating to, resulting from, or characteristic of war
a war hero
war damage
a war story
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to have made the most of the opportunities presented to one during wartime
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informal (esp of a child) hurt or knocked about, esp as a result of quarrelling and fighting
verb
War.
2
British
abbreviation
war
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
warsimple
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warssimple
-
have warredperfect
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has warredperfect
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am warringprogressive
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are warringprogressive
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is warringprogressive
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have been warringperfect progressive
-
has been warringperfect progressive
Past
-
warredsimple
-
had warredperfect
-
was warringprogressive
-
were warringprogressive
-
had been warringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of war1
First recorded before 1150; Middle English noun wer(re), war(re), late Old English werre, wyrre, from Old North French wer(r)e, waire, from Old Frankish werra (unrecorded), from Germanic; cognate with Old High German werra, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch werre “strife, discord”; verb derivative of the noun; akin to war 2, worse
Origin of war2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wer(re), war(re), from Old Norse verri worse
Explanation
War is armed combat between two or more countries or between different groups of people within the same country. As the soul singer Edwin Starr asked, "War! Huh! What is it good for?" Absolutely nothing. The term "civil war" means not that the war is courteous and polite, but that it is between citizens of the same nation or community, as in the American Civil War. Often war refers to nonmilitary combat or tension, such as between angry neighbors, or rival sports teams, or between different social classes — as in "class war," or government policies such as the "war on drugs."
Vocabulary lists containing war
Memorial Day: Words of Respect and Remembrance
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Gather Vocabulary Knowledge, Unit 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Similarly, Korte, who has reported extensively on the war with Iran, defended the newspaper’s role following her dismissal.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
In announcing the change, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared, “We are ending the war on protein.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
DUBAI—Iran’s top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hardliners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
South Korea was set Saturday to send its first trial container through the Arctic, as the Middle East war rattles global shipping, while environmental groups warned the route could accelerate polar ice melt.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
“In Paris, the work you were doing was vital for the war effort,” Luc said.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
"I wanted to serve my country and being a soldier meant I could do that at times of war. I wasn't a girly girl and it just seemed like a perfect fit for me."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Jordan is not a party to this war. Its people should not have to bear the consequences or pay the price for policies that do not serve the nation’s supreme interests,” the letter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I think we’re very close to a resumption of all-out war. I’m not seeing an off-ramp right now.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"Iran is trying to avoid another full-scale war. But it also believes that failing to respond carries its own risks because it would project weakness and invite further pressure," she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
“Two-part. You are watching an old movie on TV, a movie from before the war. It shows a banquet in progress; the guests are enjoying raw oysters.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
He went on: “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals?
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2024
“We saw that everything is possible. We saw that you can negotiate during a war, or a Cold War. You can negotiate with people you name terrorist, or dictator.”
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2024
“She was a peace advocate before she met my father and was instrumental in him speaking out against the Vietnam War. Please understand…my mama was a force.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2024
Civil War. 750,000 soldiers died in that war, according to recently revised estimates, and that's not including the tens of thousands of civilian casualties and the untold numbers of the injured.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 2, 2023
“Originally it appears in a book by Sun Tzu called The Art of War. It comes at the end of the third chapter.”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Born three years before the Titanic disaster and eight years before the Russian Revolution, Caterham has also lived through two world wars.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Five women and three men are in the running to succeed Antonio Guterres as leader of the United Nations, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Generation wars, side gigs and unemployment are just some of the career struggles captured in recent shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
He was able to say: “No new wars, I’m going to fix the economy on Day 1, I’m going to do this, this, and this.”
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
But in the years between the two world wars, children in Soviet schools were treated with complete gender equality, with girls and boys studying the same subjects.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
In his first term, he warred incessantly with public sector unions.
From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2025
Then, two titanic egos — Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis and railroad baron Henry Huntington — warred through their proxies in Congress, Huntington wanting the harbor in Santa Monica, and Otis in San Pedro.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
U.S. oil prices hit their lowest this year overnight as concerns over Chinese demand warred with talk of possible OPEC+ output cuts.
From Reuters ● Nov. 29, 2022
They also warred with one another, however, with the Ptolemies and the Seleucids emerging as particularly bitter rivals, frequently fighting over the territories that divided their empires.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
Nine moons had waxed and waned, and Robb had been bom in Riverrun while his father still warred in the south.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Such problems led to agreements among the perpetually warring European countries bordering the Rhine to cooperate in fixing them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Speaking on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal between the warring parties could be reached Tuesday or Wednesday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
US President Donald Trump has said "there are very friendly negotiations going on" about the conflict with Iran, after the warring sides did not exchange strikes for a third straight day.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
His people are ancient and few, a clan whose kinship with nature left them vulnerable to warring nobles who all but wiped them out.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
But Woodrow Wilson, the American president, insisted on full neutral trading rights with all the warring nations, and he refused to limit Americans’ freedom to travel.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
