war
♦♦♦ war /w'ɔːr/ (wars)
1 [N-VAR]
A war is a period of fighting or conflict between countries or states.
He spent part of the war in the National Guard...
They've been at war for the last fifteen years.
≠ peace
2 [N-VAR] usu with supp
War is intense economic competition between countries or organizations.
The most important thing is to reach an agreement and to avoid a trade war.
3 [N-VAR] oft N against/on n
If you make war on someone or something that you are opposed to, you do things to stop them succeeding.
She has been involved in the war against organised crime.
...if the United States is to be successful in its war on drugs.
4
see also warring, civil war, council of war, council of war
5 [PHRASE] V inflects
If a country goes to war, it starts fighting a war.
Do you think this crisis can be settled without going to war?
6 [PHRASE] oft PHR between/with n
If two people, countries, or organizations have a war of words, they criticize each other because they strongly disagree about something. (JOURNALISM)
Animal rights activists have been engaged in an increasingly bitter war of words with many of the nation's zoos.
7
to lose the battle but win the war: see battle♦ civ|il war (civil wars)
[N-COUNT]
A civil war is a war which is fought between different groups of people who live in the same country.
...the Spanish Civil War.coun|cil of war (councils of war)
[N-COUNT]
A council of war is a meeting that is held in order to decide how a particular threat or emergency should be dealt with. (FORMAL)pho|ney war
also phony war
[N-SING]
A phoney war is when two opposing groups are openly hostile towards each other or are in competition with each other, as if they were at war, but there is no real fighting. (BRIT)price war (price wars)
[N-COUNT]
If competing companies are involved in a price war, they each try to gain an advantage by lowering their prices as much as possible in order to sell more of their products and damage their competitors financially. (BUSINESS)
A vicious price war between manufacturers has cut margins to the bone.pris|on|er of war (prisoners of war)
[N-COUNT]
Prisoners of war are soldiers who have been captured by their enemy during a war and kept as prisoners until the end of the war.
= POWshoot|ing war (shooting wars)
[N-COUNT]
When two countries in conflict engage in a shooting war, they fight each other with weapons rather than opposing each other by diplomatic or other means. (JOURNALISM)turf war (turf wars)
or turf battle
1 [N-COUNT] oft N between n, N over n
A turf war is a struggle between criminals or gangs over who controls a particular area. (mainly JOURNALISM)
The estate is at the centre of a bitter turf war between rival drug gangs.
2 [N-COUNT] oft N between n, N over n
A turf war is a struggle between people over who controls a particular activity. (mainly JOURNALISM)
Both sides say this is more than just a turf war between big and small banks.war chest (war chests)
[N-COUNT]
A war chest is a fund to finance a project such as a political campaign.
Governor Caperton has the largest campaign war chest.war game (war games)
1 [N-COUNT] usu pl
War games are military exercises that are carried out for the purpose of training, and that are designed to imitate a real war as closely as possible.
2 [N-COUNT]
A war game is a game in which model soldiers are used to recreate battles that happened in the past. War games can also be played on computers.war of nerves
[N-SING]
A war of nerves is a conflict in which the opposing sides try to make each other feel less confident.
...the continuing war of nerves between the army and the leadership.war paint
also warpaint
[N-UNCOUNT]
War paint is the paint which some groups of people used to decorate their faces and bodies before they fought a battle.war wid|ow (war widows)
[N-COUNT]
A war widow is a woman whose husband was killed while he was in the armed forces during a war.♦ world war (world wars)
[N-VAR]
A world war is a war that involves countries all over the world.
Many senior citizens have been though two world wars...
At the end of the second world war he was working as a docker...
1 [N-VAR]
A war is a period of fighting or conflict between countries or states.
He spent part of the war in the National Guard...
They've been at war for the last fifteen years.
≠ peace
2 [N-VAR] usu with supp
War is intense economic competition between countries or organizations.
The most important thing is to reach an agreement and to avoid a trade war.
3 [N-VAR] oft N against/on n
If you make war on someone or something that you are opposed to, you do things to stop them succeeding.
She has been involved in the war against organised crime.
...if the United States is to be successful in its war on drugs.
4
see also warring, civil war, council of war, council of war
5 [PHRASE] V inflects
If a country goes to war, it starts fighting a war.
Do you think this crisis can be settled without going to war?
6 [PHRASE] oft PHR between/with n
If two people, countries, or organizations have a war of words, they criticize each other because they strongly disagree about something. (JOURNALISM)
Animal rights activists have been engaged in an increasingly bitter war of words with many of the nation's zoos.
7
to lose the battle but win the war: see battle♦ civ|il war (civil wars)
[N-COUNT]
A civil war is a war which is fought between different groups of people who live in the same country.
...the Spanish Civil War.coun|cil of war (councils of war)
[N-COUNT]
A council of war is a meeting that is held in order to decide how a particular threat or emergency should be dealt with. (FORMAL)pho|ney war
also phony war
[N-SING]
A phoney war is when two opposing groups are openly hostile towards each other or are in competition with each other, as if they were at war, but there is no real fighting. (BRIT)price war (price wars)
[N-COUNT]
If competing companies are involved in a price war, they each try to gain an advantage by lowering their prices as much as possible in order to sell more of their products and damage their competitors financially. (BUSINESS)
A vicious price war between manufacturers has cut margins to the bone.pris|on|er of war (prisoners of war)
[N-COUNT]
Prisoners of war are soldiers who have been captured by their enemy during a war and kept as prisoners until the end of the war.
= POWshoot|ing war (shooting wars)
[N-COUNT]
When two countries in conflict engage in a shooting war, they fight each other with weapons rather than opposing each other by diplomatic or other means. (JOURNALISM)turf war (turf wars)
or turf battle
1 [N-COUNT] oft N between n, N over n
A turf war is a struggle between criminals or gangs over who controls a particular area. (mainly JOURNALISM)
The estate is at the centre of a bitter turf war between rival drug gangs.
2 [N-COUNT] oft N between n, N over n
A turf war is a struggle between people over who controls a particular activity. (mainly JOURNALISM)
Both sides say this is more than just a turf war between big and small banks.war chest (war chests)
[N-COUNT]
A war chest is a fund to finance a project such as a political campaign.
Governor Caperton has the largest campaign war chest.war game (war games)
1 [N-COUNT] usu pl
War games are military exercises that are carried out for the purpose of training, and that are designed to imitate a real war as closely as possible.
2 [N-COUNT]
A war game is a game in which model soldiers are used to recreate battles that happened in the past. War games can also be played on computers.war of nerves
[N-SING]
A war of nerves is a conflict in which the opposing sides try to make each other feel less confident.
...the continuing war of nerves between the army and the leadership.war paint
also warpaint
[N-UNCOUNT]
War paint is the paint which some groups of people used to decorate their faces and bodies before they fought a battle.war wid|ow (war widows)
[N-COUNT]
A war widow is a woman whose husband was killed while he was in the armed forces during a war.♦ world war (world wars)
[N-VAR]
A world war is a war that involves countries all over the world.
Many senior citizens have been though two world wars...
At the end of the second world war he was working as a docker...