war story

noun

: a story of a memorable personal experience typically involving an element of danger, hardship, or adventure

politicians swapping war stories from past campaigns

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People have been telling stories about real wars since long before Washington Irving wrote the following in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: "folks . . . sat smoking at one end of the piazza, . . . drawing out long stories about the war." But today tellers of "war stories" need not have experienced a literal battlefield. Around the middle of the 19th century, "war story" took on a more figurative meaning, and nowadays such accounts can encompass challenges in the workplace, on the campaign trail, in sports, in one's travels . . . wherever difficulties need to be overcome.

Examples of war story in a Sentence

He liked to tell war stories from his life as a sea captain. We exchanged war stories about our time as interns at the same company.

Recent Examples on the Web Nick is a foundational yule war story, steeped within the arcane Norse legends. —

Justin Kroll, Deadline, 26 Sep. 2024 For sure, the former players had plenty of war stories to share. —

Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024 An old Canton fable has it that, late at night after the doors to the Hall are closed and locked, the busts come to life and talk to one another, sharing jokes, old war stories and football wisdom. —

Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2024 The book reads like an oral history, war stories of survival and pride, fear and desperation told around hot plates and night fires. —

and Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 30 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for war story

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'war story.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.