civil war

noun

plural civil wars

: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country

a country on the brink of (a) civil war

—often used in the capitalized names of specific wars

the Spanish Civil War

(American/U.S.) Civil War monuments

Note: The American Civil War, fought 1861–1865 between the United States and 11 southern states that had seceded from it, is also commonly known as the U.S. Civil War, or especially in the U.S. as the War Between the States or simply the Civil War.

Examples of civil war in a Sentence

a region that has had many civil wars

The country is on the brink of civil war.

Recent Examples on the Web

The camp is just around 30 miles away from the border with South Sudan, were a civil war and ethnic violence that began in 2013 led tens of thousands of people — many on foot — to flee to Uganda. —Fatma Tanis, NPR, 2 Nov. 2025

Beyond the Gulf, PepsiCo is in the early stages of re-entering the market in Syria, which emerged from a 13-year civil war in December, Willemsen said. —Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025

The grisly events in El Fasher come over two and a half years into a brutal civil war that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people. —Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025

Sudan has been engulfed in a bloody civil war since April 2023, when a power struggle between RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, and Sudanese Armed Forces leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan escalated into open conflict. —Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1533, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for civil war

• albacore
• alongshore
• antiwar
• anymore
• blastopore
• carnivore
• commodore
• dinosaur
• evermore
• furthermore
• guarantor
• herbivore

Kids Definition

civil war

noun

: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country or nation