Word: war Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Inherited from Middle English werre, from Late Old English werre /wyrre (“armed conflict”), from Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French guerre /werre (compare modern French guerre), from Medieval Latin werra, from Frankish *werʀu (“confusion; quarrel”), from Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to mix up, confuse, beat, thresh”). Gradually displaced native Old English beadu, hild, ġewinn, orleġe, wīġ, and many others as the general term for "war" during the Middle English period. Related to Old High German werra (“confusion, strife, quarrel”) and German verwirren (“to confuse”), but not to Wehr (“defense”). Also related to Old Saxon werran (“to confuse, perplex”), Dutch war (“confusion, disarray”), West Frisian war (“struggle, resistance, defense, effort, exertion, activity”), Old English wyrsa, wiersa (“worse”), Old Norse verri (“worse, orig. confounded, mixed up”), Italian guerra (“war”). There may be a connection with worse and wurst. Pronunciation: /wɔː/, /wɔɹ/, /wɔɾ/, /wɔ(r)/, /wɑ(r)/ 1. 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. Labels: uncountable Example: holy war; just war; civil war Example: 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. 2. A particular conflict of this kind. Labels: countable Example: All human tribes glad token see In the close of the wars of Grant and Lee. Example: 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. 3. Protracted armed conflict against irregular forces, particularly groups considered terrorists. Labels: countable, proscribed, sometimes Example: 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. Example: ...These wars are not going away. This is at least a generational struggle. 4. Any protracted conflict, particularly Labels: broadly, countable Example: the War on Poverty... the War on Drugs... the War on Christmas... 5. Any protracted conflict, particularly Labels: US, broadly, countable, uncountable Example: 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. 6. Any protracted conflict, particularly Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable Example: price wars... Cola Wars... format wars... 7. Any protracted conflict, particularly Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable Example: turf war... gang war... Castellammarese War... 8. Any protracted conflict, particularly Labels: Internet, broadly, countable, uncountable Example: flame war... edit war... 9. An assembly of weapons; instruments of war. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: The God of Love himſelf inhabits there, With all his rage, and dread, and grief, and care, His complement of ſtores, and total war... 10. Armed forces. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: On thir imbattelld ranks the Waves return, And overwhelm thir Warr 11. Any of a family of card games where all cards are dealt at the beginning of play and players attempt to capture them all, typically involving no skill and only serving to kill time. Labels: uncountable Example: We played crazy eights, war, fifty-two card pickup. Rudy flipped the whole deck across the table at me and the cards sailed to the floor, kings, queens, deuces.