war

UK /wɔː/ US /wɔɹ/

name 8noun 7verb 2

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

long, short | bloody

all-out, full-scale, total

The country entered a full-scale war that affected every aspect of daily life for ordinary people.

VERB + WAR

be in, fight in

My great-uncle was in the war and didn't return home until 1946.

fight, make, wage

The general decided to wage war against the rebel forces in the northern region.

win | lose | declare

go to

The two nations went to war over control of the border region.

avert, prevent | be ravaged by

WAR + VERB

approach, loom, threaten | begin, break out, come, erupt, start

escalate, spread

The conflict in the region began to spread after the government refused to negotiate.

continue, drag on, go on, last, progress, rage (on)

The conflict continued for decades, affecting multiple generations of families.

come to an end, end

WAR + NOUN

years

Many families lost their homes during the war years and had to start again.

hero, veteran | chief, leader | casualty, victim | damage

correspondent

She worked as a war correspondent covering conflicts across three continents during her journalism career.

artist, poet | zone

effort

During World War II, millions of workers contributed to the war effort at home.

record

The general's impressive war record earned him respect from soldiers and civilians alike.

machine

The military's war machine had been operating at full capacity for several months.

PREP

at ~

The two nations have been at war for nearly a decade now.

between the ~s

in (a/the) ~

My grandfather lost his hearing in the Second World War.

~ against/with

The government launched a major war against poverty in rural areas.

~ between

There was a bitter war between the two neighboring countries that lasted for many years.

~ on

Many countries agreed to join the war on poverty in the 1960s.

~ with

My country has been in a trade war with its largest neighbor for over a year.

PHRASES

the horrors of war

Many soldiers struggle to forget the horrors of war long after returning home.

in a state of war, in time/times of war

During times of war, many families had to leave their homes and move to safer areas.

on a war footing

The government put the country on a war footing after the invasion began.

the brink of war

The two countries moved dangerously close to the brink of war before diplomats negotiated a peace agreement.

the outbreak of war

When the outbreak of war began, many families decided to leave the city for safety.

a theatre of war

The Middle East became a major theatre of war during the twentieth century.

a war of attrition

Definitions

noun

Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually but not always involving active engagement of military forces.

holy war; just war; civil war

Come on, let vs deale wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to passe that when there falleth out any warre, they ioyne also vnto our enemies, and fight against vs, and so get them vp out of the land.

A particular conflict of this kind.

All human tribes glad token see In the close of the wars of Grant and Lee.

A second challenge will be to implement, with our allies, a plan of stability in the Balkans, so that the region's bitter ethnic problems can no longer be exploited by dictators and Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic again to fight in another war.

Protracted armed conflict against irregular forces, particularly groups considered terrorists.

Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

...These wars are not going away. This is at least a generational struggle.

Any protracted conflict, particularly

the War on Poverty... the War on Drugs... the War on Christmas...

Any protracted conflict, particularly

The war against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party... Ask all our millions, north and south, whether they would vote now (were such a thing possible) to have our war for the Union expunged from history... and probably hardly a handful of eccentrics would say yes. Those ancestors, those efforts, those memories and legends, ar the most ideal part of what we now own together, a sacred spiritual possession worth more than all the blood poured out. Yet ask those same people whether they would be willing, in cold blood, to start another civil war now to gain another similar possession, and not one man or woman would vote for the proposition.

verb

To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).

...to war the Scot, and borders to defend...

And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they slew all the males

To carry on, as a contest; to wage.

[…], that thou by them mighteſt warre a good warfare,[…].

By God, that man does war honour.

name

Preceded by the: designating a particularly notable war.

Through much of the War, Hitler carried his painter's kit, did water colors of War-ruined buildings.

Preceded by the: designating a particularly notable war.

The personification of war, often depicted in armour and riding a red horse; the red rider.

A city in West Virginia, United States.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — the waging of armed conflict against an enemy

warfare

noun — an active struggle between competing entities

warfare

Antonyms

peace

Idioms & Phrases

war bride

A woman who marries a man who is on active military duty in wartime; especially, a woman who marries a foreign soldier serving in her country and then emigrates to his.

tug of war

A game or competition in which two teams pull or tug on opposite ends of a rope trying to force the other team over the line which initially marked the middle between the two teams.

[Gordon Burn:] You told me you had tugs-of-war with your sisters over small, common-or-garden, apparently insignificant household things, things that you felt meant more to you tha

pissing war

An often vicious conflict in which combatants contend for dominance over certain territory.

turf war

A dispute over territory between rival gangs.

war of words

A heated exchange of threatening or inflammatory statements.

The young man much resented this directness of attack, and in the war of words which followed when they met he did not scruple publicly to insult Mr Clare, without respect for his

Example Bank

holy war; just war; civil war

Wiktionary

And when yee shall heare of warres, and rumors of warres, be yee not troubled: For such things must needs be, but the end shall not be yet.

Wiktionary

...to war the Scot, and borders to defend...

Wiktionary

And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they slew all the males

Wiktionary

Once more vnto the Breach, Deare friends, once more... Be Coppy now to men of groſſer blood, And teach them how to Warre.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, war is marked as obsolete, informal, US, British, historical. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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