war-game

1 of 2

verb

ˈwȯr-ˌgām 

war-gamed; war-gaming; war-games

transitive verb

: to plan or conduct in the manner of a war game

… war-gamed an invasion …

—Newsweek

intransitive verb

: to conduct a war game

war game

2 of 2

noun

1

: a simulated battle or campaign to test military concepts and usually conducted in conferences by officers acting as the opposing staffs

2

: a two-sided umpired training maneuver with actual elements of the armed forces participating

Examples of war-game in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Cruz is the marquee test case — Variety war-gamed this exact scenario when the rule changed. — Clayton Davis, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026

Experts across Washington are already war-gaming potential scenarios in which one country gets the upper hand in AI. — Caitlin Babcock, Christian Science Monitor, 18 June 2026

Noun

Frustrated but persistent, about seven hundred of the twelve hundred agents that participated in the board collaborated in what was essentially a cybersecurity version of capture the flag, a war game in which underhandedness is rewarded. — Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

But every season thus far — not only including but especially this one — has concluded as a perverse, whack, and certainly damning portrait of American war games in an era of steep imperial decline. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1923, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1871, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for war-game

• acclaim
• aflame
• airframe
• ballgame
• became
• declaim
• defame
• disclaim
• doorframe
• exclaim
• inflame
• mainframe