warfare

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war·fare

(wôr′fâr′)

a. The waging of war against an enemy; armed conflict.

b. Military operations marked by a specific characteristic: guerrilla warfare; chemical warfare.

2. A state of disharmony or conflict; strife: constant spousal warfare in the household.

3. Acts undertaken to destroy or undermine the strength of another: political warfare.

[Middle English : warre, war; see war + fare, journey (from Old English faru, from faran, to journey; see fare).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

warfare

(ˈwɔːˌfɛə)

1. (Military) the act, process, or an instance of waging war

2. conflict, struggle, or strife

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

war•fare

(ˈwɔrˌfɛər)

n.

1. the process of military struggle between two nations or groups of nations; war.

2. armed conflict between two massed enemies, armies, or the like.

3. conflict, esp. when vicious and unrelenting, between competitors, political rivals, etc.

[1425–75; late Middle English werefare literally, a faring forth to war; see war¹, fare]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	warfare - the waging of armed conflict against an enemy; "thousands of people were killed in the war" war de-escalation - (war) a reduction in intensity (of a crisis or a war) military action, action - a military engagement; "he saw action in Korea" limited war - a war whose objective is less than the unconditional defeat of the enemy psychological warfare, war of nerves - the use of psychological tactics to destroy the opponents' morale battle, engagement, fight, conflict - a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement" civil war - a war between factions in the same country armed combat, combat - an engagement fought between two military forces chemical operations, chemical warfare - warfare using chemical agents to kill or injure or incapacitate the enemy bioattack, biologic attack, biological attack, biological warfare, BW - the use of bacteria or viruses or toxins to destroy men and animals or food information warfare, IW - the use of information or information technology during a time of crisis or conflict to achieve or promote specific objectives over a specific adversary or adversaries; "not everyone agrees that information warfare is limited to the realm of traditional warfare" international jihad, jehad - a holy war waged by Muslims against infidels world war - a war in which the major nations of the world are involved aggression - the act of initiating hostilities armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" side - one of two or more contesting groups; "the Confederate side was prepared to attack" despoiler, freebooter, looter, pillager, plunderer, raider, spoiler - someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war) state of war, war - 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" hot war - actual fighting between the warring parties
	2.	warfare - an active struggle between competing entities; "a price war"; "a war of wits"; "diplomatic warfare" war conflict, struggle, battle - an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); "the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph"--Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs" drug war - conflict between law enforcement and those who deal in illegal drugs trench warfare - a struggle (usually prolonged) between competing entities in which neither side is able to win; "the hope that his superior campaigning skills would make a difference evaporated in the realization that electioneering had become a form of trench warfare"

warfare

noun war, fighting, campaigning, battle, struggle, conflict, combat, hostilities, strife, bloodshed, jihad, armed struggle, discord, enmity, armed conflict, clash of arms, passage of arms There are fears that the dispute could develop into open warfare.
accord, peace, treaty, ceasefire, harmony, truce, conciliation, armistice, amity, cessation of hostilities

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

warfare

noun

1. A vying with others for victory or supremacy:

battle, competition, contest, corrivalry, race, rivalry, strife, striving, struggle, tug of war, war.

2. A state of open, prolonged fighting:

belligerency, conflict, confrontation, hostility (used in plural), strife, struggle, war.

3. A state of disagreement and disharmony:

Translations

حَرْب، قِتال، صِراع

krigsførelse

Kriegsführung

guerra arte militar

guerre

hadviselés

hernaîur

vojskovanje

warfare

[ˈwɔːfɛəʳ] N (= fighting) → guerra f; (= techniques) → artes mpl militares
chemical/germ warfare → guerra f química/bacteriológica
trench warfare → guerra f de trincheras

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

warfare

[ˈwɔː^rfɛə^r] n → guerre f
chemical warfare → guerre chimique
biological warfare → guerre biologiquewar game n → jeu m de stratégie militairewar grave n → tombe f militaire

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

warfare

n → Krieg m; (= techniques) → Kriegskunst f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

warfare

[ˈwɔːˌfɛəʳ] n (fighting) → guerra, lotta; (technique) → arte f bellica

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

war

(woː) noun

(an) armed struggle, especially between nations. Their leader has declared war on Britain; The larger army will win the war; the horrors of war; (also adjective) He is guilty of war crimes.

verb – past tense, past participle warred –

to fight. The two countries have been warring constantly for generations.

ˈwarlike adjective

(negative unwarlike) fond of, or likely to begin, war. a warlike nation.

ˈwarrior (ˈwo-) noun

a soldier or skilled fighting man, especially in primitive societies. The chief of the tribe called his warriors together; (also adjective) a warrior prince.

war correspondent

a newspaper reporter who writes articles on a war especially from the scene of fighting.

ˈwar-cry – plural ˈwar-cries – noun

a shout used in battle as an encouragement to the soldiers. `For king and country' was the war-cry of the troops as they faced the enemy.

ˈwar-dance noun

a dance performed by the people of some primitive societies before going to war.

ˈwarfare noun

fighting, as in a war. He refused to fight, because he has religious objections to warfare.

ˈwarhead noun

the explosive section of a missile, torpedo etc. nuclear warheads.

ˈwarhorse noun

a horse used in battle.

ˈwarlord noun

a very powerful military leader.

ˈwarmonger noun

a person who encourages war(s), often for personal reasons.

ˈwarpaint noun

paint applied to the face etc by the people of some primitive societies before going into battle.

ˈwarship noun

a ship used in war or defence.

ˈwartime noun

the time during which a country, a people etc is at war. There is a great deal of hardship and misery in wartime; (also adjective) a wartime economy.

war of nerves

a war, contest etc in which each side tries to win by making the other nervous, eg by bluff, rather than by actually fighting. That game of chess was a war of nerves.

References in classic literature ?

One of the most striking facts historically about this war, and the one that makes the complete separation that had arisen between the methods of warfare and the necessity of democratic support, is the effectual secrecy of the Washington authorities about their airships.

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His life was spent far from the court and away from the sounds of civil warfare, in the endeavour to set himself in harmony with the universe -- to become, in fact, like an Aeolian harp through which all the cords of nature might sweep at will.

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Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of the intermediate frontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cruelty and fierceness of the savage warfare of those periods than the country which lies between the head waters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes.

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Cutter lived in a state of perpetual warfare with his wife, and yet, apparently, they never thought of separating.

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Then the wretched rabble of the Isosceles, planless and leaderless, are either transfixed without resistance by the small body of their brethren whom the Chief Circle keeps in pay for emergencies of this kind; or else more often, by means of jealousies and suspicions skilfully fomented among them by the Circular party, they are stirred to mutual warfare, and perish by one another's angles.

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In time of actual warfare they form a part of the reserves, and when the necessity arises fight with even greater intelligence and ferocity than the men.

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But though thus unoffending in their policy, they are called upon continually to wage defensive warfare; especially with the Blackfeet; with whom, in the course of their hunting expeditions, they come in frequent collision and have desperate battles.

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He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.