Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
attested by 1898 as a speculation.\n\nIf through fear of entangling alliances the United States should return the Philippines to Spain, Mr. Page asserted that the predatory nations would swoop down upon them and a world war would result.
["New York Times," Dec. 16, 1898]
\nApplied to the first one almost as soon as it began in 1914 ("England has Thrown Lot with France in World War" -- headline, "Pittsburgh Press," Aug. 2, 1914). World War I coined 1939, replacing Great War as the most common name for it; First World War, World War II, and Second World War all also are from 1939. Old English had woruldgewinn, woruldgefeoht, both of which might be translated "world war," but with "world" in the sense of "earthly, secular."Wiktionary
n. A war involving the major nations of the world.
WordNet
n. a war in which the major nations of the world are involved
Wikipedia
A world war is a war involving many or most of the world's most powerful and populous countries. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters. The term is applied to the two major international conflicts that occurred during the twentieth century: the First World War (1914–1918) and the Second World War (1939–1945) but historians have documented at least thirty-one world wars prior to WWI and at least two world wars beyond WWII.
A world war is an armed conflict involving many nations
It may also refer to:
- World War I (1914-18)
- World War II (1939-45)
- World War III, a discussed future possible conflict
Usage examples of "world war".
There was old footage of the First World War, showing the artillery bombardments that preceded an attack and disembowelled bodies sprawled on the barbed wire.
Condon was a distinguished American physicist, a pioneer in quantum mechanics, a participant in the development of radar and nuclear weapons in World War II, research director of Corning Glass, director of the National Bureau of Standards, and president of the American Physical Society (as well as, late in his life, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, where he directed a controversial Air Force-funded scientific study of UFOs).
He had had it fitted after sustaining injuries during the battle for Arnheim bridge in the closing melees of the second world war.
Nevertheless,Data had recurring thoughts about Japanese soldiersin World War II stranded at their jungle posts yearsafter their war was over.
Nevertheless, Data had recurring thoughts about Japanese soldiers in World War II stranded at their jungle posts years after their war was over.
On many occasions in his Presidential campaigns, Mr Reagan told an epic story of World War Two courage and sacrifice, an inspiration for all of us.
As mentioned earlier, during the Manhattan Project, the successful World War Two US effort to build nuclear weapons before the Nazis did, certain participating scientists began to have reservations, the more so when it became clear how immensely powerful these weapons were.
The irony of being saved from lung cancer by a world war is not lost on him.
On top of Telegraph Hill, the World War III Memorial, built on the remains of the Coit Tower after the latter was destroyed during that conflict.
So Niall closed his eyes again, and tried to suspend his judgement as he witnessed the history of the twentieth century: the Great War, the Russian revolution, the rise of the Fascists and the Nazis, the Sino-Japanese war, the Second World War, the invention of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and the uneasy armed peace that these brought about.
And what he's asked us to do isn't going to be written up in a history of intelligence triumphs of the Second World War.