war chest

noun

: a fund accumulated to finance a war
broadly : a fund earmarked for a specific purpose, action, or campaign

Examples of war chest in a Sentence

The candidate held fund-raising dinners to build up his war chest.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The meager war chest leaves clubs on the hook for multimillion-dollar capital calls to cover league expenses each year. Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025 The bottom line: Armed with strong ties to Trump and a $9 million campaign war chest, Hagerty will enter the 2026 race as the clear front-runner. Nate Rau, Axios, 11 Feb. 2025 The maneuvers attracted Trump’s ire, but doubled down on promises to push back and just proposed a $25 million war chest for anticipated legal battles against the new administration. Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2024 Less money for Gazprom means less for Russia’s war chest. Christian Edwards, CNN, 26 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for war chest

Word History

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of war chest was in 1871

Browse Nearby Entries

Cite this Entry

“War chest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20chest. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!