English▸ noun a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state:
Japan declared war on Germany
the two countries had been at war for six years.
▪ a particular armed conflict:
after the war, they immigrated to America.
▪ a state of competition, conflict, or hostility between different people or groups:
she was at war with her parents
a price war among discount retailers.
▪ a sustained effort to deal with or end a particular unpleasant or undesirable situation or condition:
the authorities are waging war against all forms of smuggling
a war on drugs.
▸ verb
(wars, warring, warred)
[no object] engage in a war: small states warred against each other
figurative conflicting emotions warred within her.
– PHRASES
go to war
declare, begin, or see active service in a war:
serve as a soldier:
a threatening situation of instability in international relations:
a prolonged war or period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear out the other by a series of small-scale actions.war of words
a prolonged debate conducted by means of the spoken or printed word:
a war, especially World War I, regarded as making subsequent wars unnecessary.
go to war
declare, begin, or see active service in a war:
of the four brothers who went to war, only Thomas survived.
go to the wars archaic serve as a soldier:
I did all I could to dissuade him from going to the wars.
war clouds /ˈwôr ˌkloudz/ a threatening situation of instability in international relations:
the war clouds were looming.
war of attrition a prolonged war or period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear out the other by a series of small-scale actions.war of words
a prolonged debate conducted by means of the spoken or printed word:
the political war of words over tax.
war to end all wars a war, especially World War I, regarded as making subsequent wars unnecessary.
– ORIGIN late Old English werre, from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French guerre, from a Germanic base shared by worse.