war chest

noun

: a fund accumulated to finance a war
broadly : a fund earmarked for a specific purpose, action, or campaign

Examples of war chest in a Sentence

The candidate held fund-raising dinners to build up his war chest.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
What To Know The latest sanctions package, announced September 19, seeks to further restrict European revenues funding Russia's war chest. Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025 Any money coming into the club now was unlikely to form a kitty for Thomas Frank to delve into – and it is understood this £100m injection is not a new transfer war chest. Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025 Thanks to Google’s enormous war chest, Waymo has had the luxury to spend 16 years raking in data to create more precise self-driving cars, all with the hope of an eventual payoff. Saahil Desai, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025 The hosts talk about Saudi Arabia’s $38 billion gaming war chest, and what this might mean for EA partners like the NFL, NHL and Formula 1. Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for war chest

Word History

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of war chest was in 1871

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Cite this Entry

“War chest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20chest. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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