war

1 of 4

noun

often attributive
1
a(1)
: a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations
(2)
: a period of such armed conflict
(3)
b
: the art or science of warfare
c(1)
obsolete : weapons and equipment for war
(2)
archaic : soldiers armed and equipped for war
2
a
: a state of hostility, conflict, or antagonism
b
: a struggle or competition between opposing forces or for a particular end
a class war
a war against disease
warless adjective

war

2 of 4

verb (1)

warred; warring

intransitive verb

1
: to be in active or vigorous conflict
2
: to engage in warfare

war

3 of 4

adverb or adjective

chiefly Scotland
: worse

war

4 of 4

verb (2)

warred; warring

Examples of war in a Sentence

Noun They fought a war over the disputed territory. A war broke out when the colonists demanded their independence. We need to resolve our conflicts without resorting to war. People behave differently during a time of war. The taking of American hostages was seen as an act of war by the United States. the budget wars in Washington
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Before the war, Philippe de Gaulle entered a naval academy. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024 One of the times Stanton got mad at him was because they were supposed to have an important war meeting, and Lincoln insisted on reading Shakespeare or something to them in the meeting. William Earl, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024 When the war first began, Birchard said his first reaction was to give his staff the day off or close the restaurant to make sure that everyone could connect with their families. Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 16 Mar. 2024 The war, in theory, could have been a pretext to galvanize Russian society. Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2024 And yet, the same polls show that a majority of Russians believe that starting the war was justified and that Russia will ultimately win. Anna Nemtsova, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2024 That’s far below the 500 trucks that entered through the Rafah crossing alone before the war started. Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024 Hamas also insisted any agreement should end the war. Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2024 And in recent months, YC has found itself in the crossfire of a war between tech and progressives. Steven Levy, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024
Verb
However, unlike Sheridan's other shows, the theme isn't centered around modern-day cowboys or ranch hands — though wide open spaces and businessmen warring with politicians certainly play a part. Gillian Telling, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2024 Operation Ceasefire sought to negotiate de-escalations to gun violence between warring gangs by offering an ultimatum: either stop retaliating against each other and instead be connected with mentorship and jobs and education opportunities, or face strong prosecution. Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024 In the shooting involving Arianna, court documents and testimony show that Arianna was killed as the result of warring gangs from Congress Heights in Southeast and a crew near the Mayfair neighborhood of Northeast, where the shooting occurred. Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 Basic stuff, albeit basic stuff that eludes the warring ideologies. John Tamny, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 As with all fish-out-of-water stories, the fish (or giant humanoid space lizard) will grow increasingly used to the air, and his temperamental aloneness will war with his increasing need for community, while his love-hate relationship with humanity, its pop culture and food, evolves. Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024 The only new wide release was Bleecker Street’s I.S.S., a thriller about warring astronauts in their rival space stations. Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2024 Ruthless gangs have a stranglehold on the city, preying on the population, carving neighborhoods into warring criminal fiefdoms, and cutting Haiti’s international port off from the rest of the country. Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 Luckily, Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation of this novel about warring space clans and the interstellar drug trade manages to streamline things a bit (while still clocking in at a cumulative 320-plus minutes). Lucas Trevor, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'war.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English werre, from Anglo-French werre, guerre, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra strife; akin to Old High German werran to confuse

Adverb or adjective

Middle English werre, from Old Norse verri, adjective, verr, adverb; akin to Old English wiersa worse — more at worse

First Known Use

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb Or Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of war was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near war

Cite this Entry

“War.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

war

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: a state or period of armed hostile conflict between states, nations, or groups
b
: the science of warfare
2
a
: a state of hostility, antagonism, or conflict
b
: a struggle between opposing forces or for a particular goal
a war on disease

war

2 of 2 verb
warred; warring
1
: to engage in warfare
warring nations
2
: to be in conflict

More from Merriam-Webster on war

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