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at war
Idioms and Phrases
Engaged in armed conflict; also, in a state of disagreement. This term may be used literally, usually of nations or smaller groups engaged in armed hostilities, as well as hyperbolically, describing a mild disagreement as “war,” and figuratively, for an inner conflict. For example, The Greeks and Turks have been at war for many years (literally); The two families were at war about the bill for the wedding reception (hyperbolic); and, as Shakespeare put it in Measure for Measure (2:2): “I am at war 'twixt will and will not” (inner conflict of indecision). [Late 1300s]Example Sentences
Morton asked Falconer if he accepted that "British nationals visiting Israel, a country that is at war, should be aware of those requirements and consider them carefully before making decisions to travel and that they therefore travel to Israel at their own risk?"
When soldiers aren't at war, they are training, and much of what they do is dangerous.
And unfortunately, the serene pessimist constantly at war with the manic optimist in me is winning out on this one: I don’t think we’re close to the world of a four-day workweek, or to experiencing any meaningful shift in the way that late-stage capitalism gobbles up so much of our time.
“My family is very skilled at war.”
Although the nation is not at war, President Trump has invoked his war powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to round up and deport to El Salvador about 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan crime gang.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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