war Hear it!

war1 definition

war (wôr)

noun

  1. open armed conflict between countries or between factions within the same country
  2. any active hostility, contention, or struggle; conflict the war against disease
  3. Obsolete a battle
  4. military operations as a profession or science

Etymology: ME werre < NormFr < Frank *werra, confusion, strife, akin ? to OHG (fir)werran, to confuse < ?

adjective

of, used in, or resulting from war

intransitive verb warred, warring war′·ring

  1. to carry on war; engage in military conflict
  2. to be in a state of hostility or contention; contend; strive
war Idioms

at war

in a state of active armed conflict

declare war (on)

  1. to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
  2. to announce one's hostility (to)

go to war

  1. to enter into a war
  2. to become a member of the armed forces during a war
war2 definition

war (wär)

adjective, adverb

Scot., North Eng. worse

Etymology: ME < ON verre, adj., verr, adv.; akin to OHG werran, to confuse

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (6)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
To win the battle but lose the war1211 months ago
War And Language114 years ago
Languages and The Cold War214 years ago
War and it's meaning276 years ago
The War On English: &nbsp;Continued436 years ago

See all 6 discussions · Browse Forums