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

Anger continued to be whipped up online, not least by X/Twitter owner Elon Musk, who had been critical of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and claimed that Britain is on the brink of civil war. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2024

For the Lebanese, such talk of encouraging one group to rise against another evokes memories of the civil war, when Lebanon’s religious sects were embroiled in an internecine, hugely destructive conflict that killed more than 150,000 people and turned Beirut into a byword for tragedy. —Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024

The analysts monitored responses to the articles after they were posted on the site and on social media and found calls for civil war and calls for violence against Democratic lawmakers and election workers. —Melissa Cruz, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2024

The Taif Agreement called for Syrian Armed Forces to enter Lebanon for a two-year period to help establish law and order after more than a decade of civil war. —Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2024

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