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

Forced to flee during the Dominican Republic’s turbulent civil war, Quezada’s family immigrated to Manhattan’s bustling Latin district, Washington Heights, just as the diaspora’s thirst for homespun music intensified. —Holly Jones, Variety, 6 Feb. 2025

Online scam factories – many run by Chinese crime syndicates – have proliferated in Myanmar, which has been riven by a bloody civil war since the military seized power in 2021. —Kocha Olarn, CNN, 5 Feb. 2025

The armed group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war. —Reuters, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2025

Since the start of the civil war, approximately 1.3 million Syrians have sought protection in Europe, the majority of them arriving in 2015 and 2016 and settling in countries such as Germany and Sweden. —Ana Martín Gil, The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1533, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

civil war

noun

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