War

11 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  War \War\, a.
     Ware; aware. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  War \War\, n. [OE. & AS. werre; akin to OHG. werra scandal,
     quarrel, sedition, werran to confound, mix, D. warren, G.
     wirren, verwirren, to embroil, confound, disturb, and perhaps
     to E. worse; cf. OF. werre war, F. querre, of Teutonic
     origin. Cf. {Guerrilla}, {Warrior}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A contest between nations or states, carried on by force,
        whether for defence, for revenging insults and redressing
        wrongs, for the extension of commerce, for the acquisition
        of territory, for obtaining and establishing the
        superiority and dominion of one over the other, or for any
        other purpose; armed conflict of sovereign powers;
        declared and open hostilities.
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              Men will ever distinguish war from mere bloodshed.
                                                    --F. W.
                                                    Robertson.
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     Note: As war is the contest of nations or states, it always
           implies that such contest is authorized by the monarch
           or the sovereign power of the nation. A war begun by
           attacking another nation, is called an offensive war,
           and such attack is aggressive. War undertaken to repel
           invasion, or the attacks of an enemy, is called
           defensive.
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     2. (Law) A condition of belligerency to be maintained by
        physical force. In this sense, levying war against the
        sovereign authority is treason.
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     3. Instruments of war. [Poetic]
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              His complement of stores, and total war. --Prior.
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     4. Forces; army. [Poetic]
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              On their embattled ranks the waves return,
              And overwhelm their war.              --Milton.
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     5. The profession of arms; the art of war.
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              Thou art but a youth, and he is a man of war from
              his youth.                            --1 Sam. xvii.
                                                    33.
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     6. a state of opposition or contest; an act of opposition; an
        inimical contest, act, or action; enmity; hostility.
        "Raised impious war in heaven." --Milton.
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              The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
              but war was in his heart.             --Ps. lv. 21.
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     {Civil war}, a war between different sections or parties of
        the same country or nation.
  
     {Holy war}. See under {Holy}.
  
     {Man of war}. (Naut.) See in the Vocabulary.
  
     {Public war}, a war between independent sovereign states.
  
     {War cry}, a cry or signal used in war; as, the Indian war
        cry.
  
     {War dance}, a dance among savages preliminary to going to
        war. Among the North American Indians, it is begun by some
        distinguished chief, and whoever joins in it thereby
        enlists as one of the party engaged in a warlike
        excursion. --Schoolcraft.
  
     {War field}, a field of war or battle.
  
     {War horse}, a horse used in war; the horse of a cavalry
        soldier; especially, a strong, powerful, spirited horse
        for military service; a charger.
  
     {War paint}, paint put on the face and other parts of the
        body by savages, as a token of going to war. "Wash the war
        paint from your faces." --Longfellow.
  
     {War song}, a song of or pertaining to war; especially, among
        the American Indians, a song at the war dance, full of
        incitements to military ardor.
  
     {War whoop}, a war cry, especially that uttered by the
        American Indians.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  War \War\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Warred}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Warring}.]
     1. To make war; to invade or attack a state or nation with
        force of arms; to carry on hostilities; to be in a state
        by violence.
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              Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of
              Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem
              to war against it.                    --Isa. vii. 1.
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              Why should I war without the walls of Troy? --Shak.
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              Our countrymen were warring on that day! --Byron.
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     2. To contend; to strive violently; to fight. "Lusts which
        war against the soul." --1 Pet. ii. 11.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  War \War\, v. t.
     1. To make war upon; to fight. [R.]
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              To war the Scot, and borders to defend. --Daniel.
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     2. To carry on, as a contest; to wage. [R.]
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              That thou . . . mightest war a good warfare. --Tim.
                                                    i. 18.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  war
       n 1: the waging of armed conflict against an enemy; "thousands of
            people were killed in the war" [syn: {warfare}]
       2: a legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by
          official declaration during which the international rules
          of war apply; "war was declared in November but actual
          fighting did not begin until the following spring" [syn: {state
          of war}] [ant: {peace}]
       3: an active struggle between competing entities; "a price
          war"; "a war of wits"; "diplomatic warfare" [syn: {warfare}]
       4: a concerted campaign to end something that is injurious;
          "the war on poverty"; "the war against crime"
       v : make or wage war [ant: {make peace}]
       [also: {warring}, {warred}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  153 Moby Thesaurus words for "war":
     American Revolution, Ares, Athena, Balkan Wars, Bellona, Boer War,
     Civil War, Crimean War, Crusades, Enyo, Franco-Prussian War,
     French Revolution, Gallic Wars, Greco-Persian Wars, Indian Wars,
     Indochina War, Kilkenny cats, Korean War, Mars, Mexican War,
     Minerva, Napoleonic Wars, Odin, Peloponnesian Wars, Persian Wars,
     Punic Wars, Russian Revolution, Russo-Japanese War,
     Sino-Japanese War, Six Day War, Southeast Asian War, Tiu, Tyr,
     Vietnam War, Woden, World War I, Wotan, all-out war, altercation,
     appeal to arms, argument, armed combat, armed conflict, arms,
     art of war, attack, attempt, battle, belligerence, belligerency,
     bickering, bloodshed, box, brawl, broil, campaign,
     carry on hostilities, cat-and-dog life, challenge, chivalry, clash,
     close, collide, combat, come to blows, conflict, contend,
     contention, contentiousness, contest, contestation, controversy,
     crusade, cut and thrust, debate, disputation, dispute, drive, duel,
     endeavor, engage, engage in hostilities, enmity, essay,
     exchange blows, expedition, fence, feud, fight, fight a duel,
     fighting, generalship, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple,
     grapple with, holy war, hostilities, hostility, hot war, jihad,
     jostle, joust, knighthood, la guerre, litigation, logomachy,
     make war, might of arms, military operations, mix it up,
     open hostilities, open war, oppugn, paper war, polemic, quarrel,
     quarreling, quarrelsomeness, rassle, resort to arms, riot,
     run a tilt, scramble, scrapping, scuffle, shed blood, shooting war,
     skirmish, spar, spill blood, squabbling, state of war, strife,
     strive, struggle, take on, the sword, thrust and parry, tilt,
     total war, tourney, tug, tussle, wage war, war of words, warfare,
     warmaking, warring, wartime, words, wrangling, wrestle
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  War
     The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by
     conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the
     Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of
     Jericho and Ai, the war did not become aggressive till after the
     death of Joshua. Till then the attack was always first made by
     the Canaanites. Now the measure of the iniquity of the
     Canaanites was full, and Israel was employed by God to sweep
     them away from off the face of the earth. In entering on this
     new stage of the war, the tribe of Judah, according to divine
     direction, took the lead.
     
       In the days of Saul and David the people of Israel engaged in
     many wars with the nations around, and after the division of the
     kingdom into two they often warred with each other. They had to
     defend themselves also against the inroads of the Egyptians, the
     Assyrians, and the Babylonians. The whole history of Israel from
     first to last presents but few periods of peace.
     
       The Christian life is represented as a warfare, and the
     Christian graces are also represented under the figure of pieces
     of armour (Eph. 6:11-17; 1 Thess. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2:3, 4). The final
     blessedness of believers is attained as the fruit of victory
     (Rev. 3:21).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  WAR. A contention by force; or the art of paralysing the forces of an enemy. 
       2. It is either public or private. It is not intended here to speak of 
  the latter. 
       3. Public war is either civil or national. Civil war is that which is 
  waged between two parties, citizens or members of the same state or nation. 
  National war is a contest between two or more independent nations) carried 
  on by authority of their respective governments. 
       4. War is not only an act, but a state or condition, for nations are 
  said to be at war not only when their armies are engaged, so as to be in the 
  very act of contention, but also when, they have any matter of controversy 
  or dispute subsisting between them which they are determined to decide by 
  the use of force, and have declared publicly, or by their acts, their 
  determination so to decide it. 
       5. National wars are said to be offensive or defensive. War is 
  offensive on the part of that government which commits the first act of 
  violence; it is defensive on the part of that government which receives such 
  act; but it is very difficult to say what is the first act of violence. If a 
  nation sees itself menaced with an attack, its first act of violence to 
  prevent such attack, will be considered as defensive. 
       6. To legalize a war it must be declared by that branch of the 
  government entrusted by the constitution with this power. Bro. tit., 
  Denizen, pl. 20. And it seems it need not be declared by both the 
  belligerent powers. Rob. Rep. 232. By the constitution of the United States, 
  art. 1, s. 7, congress are invested with power "to declare war, grant 
  letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land 
  and water; and they have also the power to raise and support armies, and to 
  provide and maintain a navy." See 8 Cranch, R. 110, 154; 1 Mason, R. 79, 81; 
  4 Binn. R 487. Vide, generally, Grot. B, 1, c. 1, s. 1 Rutherf. Inst. B. 1, 
  c. 19; Bynkershoeck, Quest. Jur. Pub. lib. 1, c. 1; Lee on Capt. c. 1; Chit. 
  Law of Nat. 28; Marten's Law of Nat. B. 8, c. 2; Phil. Ev. Index, h., t. 
  Dane's Ab. Index, h. i.; Com. Dig. h.t. Bac. Ab. Prerogative, D 4; Merl. 
  Repert. mot Guerre; 1 Inst. 249; Vattel, liv. 3, c. 1, Sec. 1; Mann. Com. B. 
  3, c. 1. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  WAR, n.  A by-product of the arts of peace.  The most menacing
  political condition is a period of international amity.  The student
  of history who has not been taught to expect the unexpected may justly
  boast himself inaccessible to the light.  "In time of peace prepare
  for war" has a deeper meaning than is commonly discerned; it means,
  not merely that all things earthly have an end -- that change is the
  one immutable and eternal law -- but that the soil of peace is thickly
  sown with the seeds of war and singularly suited to their germination
  and growth.  It was when Kubla Khan had decreed his "stately pleasure
  dome" -- when, that is to say, there were peace and fat feasting in
  Xanadu -- that he
  
                          heard from afar
      Ancestral voices prophesying war.
  
      One of the greatest of poets, Coleridge was one of the wisest of
  men, and it was not for nothing that he read us this parable.  Let us
  have a little less of "hands across the sea," and a little more of
  that elemental distrust that is the security of nations.  War loves to
  come like a thief in the night; professions of eternal amity provide
  the night.
  
  

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  War, WV (city, FIPS 84484)
    Location: 37.30277 N, 81.68008 W
    Population (1990): 1081 (525 housing units)
    Area: 2.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

  War, WV -- U.S. city in West Virginia
     Population (2000):    788
     Housing Units (2000): 388
     Land area (2000):     0.905133 sq. miles (2.344283 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    0.905133 sq. miles (2.344283 sq. km)
     FIPS code:            84484
     Located within:       West Virginia (WV), FIPS 54
     Location:             37.301140 N, 81.684031 W
     ZIP Codes (1990):    
     Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
     Headwords:
      War, WV
      War