war

• warre (obsolete)

From Middle English werre, from Late Old English werre, wyrre (“armed conflict”) from Old Northern French werre (compare Old French guerre, whence modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra (“riot, disturbance, quarrel”) from Proto-Germanic *werrō (“mixture, mix-up, confusion, turmoil”), from Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to mix up, confuse, beat, thresh”).

Akin to Old High German werra (“confusion, strife, quarrel”) (German verwirren (“to confuse”)), Old Saxon werran (“to confuse, perplex”), Dutch war (“confusion, disarray”), West Frisian war (“defense, self-defense, struggle", also "confusion”), Old English wyrsa, wiersa (“worse”), Old Norse verri (“worse”) (originally "confounded, mixed up"). There may be a connection with worse, wurst.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɔː/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /wɔɹ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Homophones: wore, wor (some dialects)
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /wɑɹ/

war (countable and uncountable, plural wars)

1. (uncountable) Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.

   The war was largely between Sunni and Shia militants.

   • 1917, Henry Ford, chapter 17, in My Life and Work:

     Nobody can deny that war is a profitable business for those who like that kind of money. War is an orgy of money, just as it is an orgy of blood.

   • 1944 June 27, Herbert Hoover, speech in Chicago, Illinois, to the 23rd Republican National Convention; quoted in Linda Carol Harms Case, Bold Beliefs in Camouflage: A–Z Briefings: A Valuable Resource Highlighting an Extraordinary Collection of Prayers, Military Quotations, Scripture Verses, Bible Stories, Hymns, and Testimonies, Relevant to Core Values and Keywords Used by Chaplains, Leaders, Veterans, and Other Members of the American Armed Forces, Victoria, B.C.; Neche, N.D.: FriesenPress, January 2013, ISBN 978-1-77097-632-0, page 203:

     Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die. It is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

   • 1969, Norman Whitfield; Barrett Strong (lyrics), “War”, in War & Peace, performed by Edwin Starr:

     War, huh, good God / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, listen to me / Oh, war, I despise / 'Cause it means destruction of innocent lives / War means tears to thousands of mothers eyes / When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives

   • 2007, Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History:

     Germany declared war on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 [1939], and England declared war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.

   • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist‎, volume 408, number 8845:

     Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. […] One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

2. (countable) A particular conflict of this kind.
   • 1865, Herman Melville, "The Surrender at Appomattox":

     All human tribes glad token see

     In the close of the wars of Grant and Lee.

   • 1999, Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, November 8 1999:

     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. (countable) By extension, any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.

   You look like you've been through the wars.

   1. (figuratively) A campaign against something.

      The "war on drugs" is a campaign against the use of narcotic drugs.

      The "war on terror" is a campaign against terrorist crime.

      In the US, conservatives rail against the "war on Christmas".

   2. (business, countable) A bout of fierce competition in trade.

      I reaped the benefit of the car dealerships' price war, getting my car for far less than it's worth.

      The cellular phone companies were engaged in a freebie war, each offering various services thrown in when one purchased a plan.

4. (obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of war.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Prior

     His complement of stores, and total war.

5. (obsolete) Armed forces.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     On their embattled ranks the waves return, / And overwhelm their war.

6. (uncountable) A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.
   • 2004, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven

     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.

• peace

• battle

war (third-person singular simple present wars, present participle warring, simple past and past participle warred)

1. (intransitive) To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, King Henry V, act 3, sc. 1:

     Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more . . .

     Be copy now to men of grosser blood,

     And teach them how to war.

   • 1882, George Bernard Shaw, Cashel Byron's Profession, ch. 14:

     This vein of reflection, warring with his inner knowledge that he had been driven by fear and hatred . . ., produced an exhausting whirl in his thoughts.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Daniel

     To war the Scot, and borders to defend.

2. To carry on, as a contest; to wage.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Tim. i. 18.

     That thou […] mightest war a good warfare.

• RAW, RWA, Rwa, WRA, raw

war

1. on, over

   war ar sizhun ― during the week

• diwar
• diwar-benn

war

1. to arrive

war

1. (fresh) water

• D. C. Kamholz, Austronesians in Papua (2014, Berkeley)

From Middle Dutch werre, warre (“confusion, disarray, conflict”), from Old Dutch *werra, from Proto-Germanic *werrō. Cognate with English war, which was loaned via Frankish and Old Northern French.

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑr

war f (plural warren, diminutive warretje n)

1. confusion, disarray
   • Josien Wolthuizen & Hanneloes Pen, "Man doodgestoken in fietsenwinkel Nieuw-West", in Het Parool, March 15 2016.

     Volgens een bovenbuurvrouw kwamen hulpdiensten rond 12 uur 's middags naar de fietsenwinkel. "Ik had geen idee wat er aan de hand was. Maar de zoon van de eigenaar kwam eraan en was helemaal in de war. (...)"

2. tangle, mess
   • "Wist je dat papierklemmen je leven veel gemakkelijker kunnen maken?", in Het Laatste Nieuws, January 29 2016.

     Van statief voor je smartphone tot instrument om oortjes uit de war te houden, tot zelfs een portefeuille. De mogelijkheden met papierklemmen zijn eindeloos, maar de Japanner Venlee geeft je alvast 15 lifehacks.

3. an elevated area on the floor of a body of water, a kind of contraption for luring and catching fish, where nets and fykes could be installed
   • G. Karsten, "Eenvorme, Informe, Yefforme", in De Speelwagen, issue 10 of year 4, 1949, 307.

     Welnu, deze stoepen of warren bevonden zich aan de walkant en niet midden in het water.

   • Handtvesten, privilegien, willekeuren ende ordonnantien der Stadt Enchuysen., 1667, 345.

     De Schutters van de respective Steden, werden geauctoriseert, alle de Fuycken, buyten de benoemde Warren in de Wateringh staende, te mogen visiteren, of de selve keur mogen houden ofte niet, (...)

• in de war brengen
• verwarren
• ontwarren
• warrig
• warhoofd
• warboel

• wirwar

• (Low Prussian) wahr

Cognate to German wahr.

war

1. (in some dialectal) true

From Old Norse hvar, from Proto-Germanic *hwar. Cognate with Swedish var.

war

1. where, in what place

• IPA^(key): /vaːɐ̯/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: wahr

war

1. First-person singular preterite of sein.
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

     Ich hätte ihn heiraten können, und glaube, ich war nie in ihn verliebt.

     I could have married him; yet I believe I was never really in love with him.

2. Third-person singular preterite of sein.
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont

     Gott tröst' ihn! Das war ein Herr!

     God bless him! He was a king indeed!

war m

1. place

war

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of sinn
2. third-person singular preterite indicative of sinn

war

1. water

• A Sketch of Mpur, in Languages of the Eastern Bird's Head (2002)

From Proto-Germanic *wēraz, whence also Old English wǣr, Old Norse værr.

wār

1. true

• Middle High German: wār
  • Cimbrian: baar
  • German: wahr
  • Hunsrik: woher
  • Luxembourgish: wouer

From Proto-Germanic *wēraz, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros.

wār

1. true

• IPA^(key): /var/

war m inan

1. (obsolete) boiling water or other liquid
2. (obsolete) extreme heat

• (verb) warzyć

war m inan

1. var, volt-ampere reactive (unit of electrical power)

• war in Polish dictionaries at PWN

war

1. were

war (plural wars)

1. war

war ?

1. news

   Wax war miyaa hey-sa?

   Do you have some news?

From Proto-Tocharian *wär, from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ (“water”) through a regular (endocentric) thematicization *udrom. Compare Tocharian A wär.

war

1. water

• āp