1
: military operations between enemies : hostilities, war
also
: an activity undertaken by a political unit (such as a nation) to weaken or destroy another
economic warfare
2
: struggle between competing entities : conflict
see also biological warfare, chemical warfare, cyber warfare, germ warfare, trench warfare
Examples of warfare in a Sentence
that troubled household seems to be almost constantly in a state of warfare
companies engaged in constant warfare for dominance in the market for smart phones and tablets
Recent Examples on the Web
The series drew inspiration from World War II and later expanded into modern warfare themes.
—
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Dec. 2025
After months of fighting along parts of the Western Front in World War I, soldiers on opposing sides left the trenches to sing, retrieve the dead and share a moment of humanity before returning to the industrial warfare from which many of them would never return.
—Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 20 Dec. 2025
Playing the hits—Jake, Neytiri, and company doing glorious battle with men in mech suits—would have been easy, and Fire and Ash still serves up plenty of impressive warfare.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2025
But Belgium, where most of the funds are held, is especially fearful of blowback from Russia in the form of lawsuits and hybrid warfare tactics.
—Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warfare
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Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Dec. 2025
After months of fighting along parts of the Western Front in World War I, soldiers on opposing sides left the trenches to sing, retrieve the dead and share a moment of humanity before returning to the industrial warfare from which many of them would never return.
—Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 20 Dec. 2025
Playing the hits—Jake, Neytiri, and company doing glorious battle with men in mech suits—would have been easy, and Fire and Ash still serves up plenty of impressive warfare.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2025
But Belgium, where most of the funds are held, is especially fearful of blowback from Russia in the form of lawsuits and hybrid warfare tactics.
—Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warfare
Cite this Entry
“Warfare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/warfare. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
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warfare
noun
war·fare
ˈwȯr-ˌfa(ə)r 
-ˌfe(ə)r
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