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

Sage’s plan is to use existing societal fault lines to instigate a civil war, allowing Homelander to swoop in and play the great unifier. —Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 26 June 2024

The periods of civil war are typically very brutal. —Ray Dalio, TIME, 25 June 2024

The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communists. —Reuters, NBC News, 24 June 2024

Since his birth, Abu Nabil saw Lebanon gain its independence from France in 1943, prosper during the 1960s, become engulfed by civil war, invaded and partially occupied by Israel for decades, and partially occupied by Syria, also for decades. —Ben Wedeman, CNN, 24 June 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