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War vs Ward - What's the difference?

war | ward |

In obsolete terms the difference between war and ward

is that war is armed forces while ward is an underage orphan.

In intransitive terms the difference between war and ward

is that war is to engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe) while ward is to act on the defensive with a weapon.

war

English

Alternative forms

* warre (obsolete)

Noun

  • (uncountable) Organized]], large-scale, armed conflict between [[country, countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.
  • * 1917 , (Henry Ford), My Life and Work , Chapter 17:
  • Nobody can deny that war' is a profitable business for those who like that kind of money. ' War is an orgy of money, just as it is an orgy of blood.
  • * 2007 , Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History :
  • Germany declared war' on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 [1939], and England declared ' war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.
  • (countable) A particular conflict of this kind.
  • * 1865 , (Herman Melville), "The Surrender at Appomattox":
  • All human tribes glad token see
    In the close of the wars of .
  • * 1999 , (Bill Clinton) at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, November 8 1999:
  • A second challenge will be to implement, with our allies, a plan of stability in the Balkans, so that the region's bitter ethnic problems can no longer be exploited by dictators and Americans do not have to cross the Atlantic again to fight in another war .
  • (countable) By extension, any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.
  • # (figuratively) A campaign against something.
  • The "war on drugs" is a campaign against the use of narcotic drugs.
  • The "war on terror" is a campaign against terrorist crime.
  • In the US, conservatives rail against the "war on Christmas".
  • # (business, countable) A bout of fierce competition in trade.
  • I reaped the benefit of the car dealerships' price war , getting my car for far less than it's worth.
  • The cellular phone companies were engaged in a freebie war , each offering various services thrown in when one purchased a plan.
  • (obsolete, uncountable) Instruments of war.
  • * Prior
  • His complement of stores, and total war .
  • (obsolete) Armed forces.
  • * Milton
  • On their embattled ranks the waves return, / And overwhelm their war .
  • (uncountable) A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.
  • * 2004 , Karen Salyer McElmurray, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven
  • We played crazy eights, war , fifty-two card pickup. Rudy flipped the whole deck across the table at me and the cards sailed to the floor, kings, queens, deuces.

    Antonyms

    * peace

    Derived terms

    * all's fair in love and war * anti-war * civil war * cold war * conventional war * declaration of war * dynastic war * edit war * flame war * gas war * go to war * holy war * hot war * Hundred Years' War * inter-war * laws of war * man of war, man-of-war, man-o-war, man-o'-war * man-o'-war suit * nuclear war * perpetual war * pissing war * Portuguese man-of-war * post-war * pre-war * price war * prisoner of war, , PW * pro-war * proxy war * revert war * ship of war * spoils of war * state of war * theater of war, theatre of war * thumb war * total war * trade war * tug of war * turf war * undeclared war * war- * war between the sexes * war bond * war bonnet * war bride * War Cabinet * war chalk * war chest * war child * war crime * war criminal * war cry * war dance * war-dial * war-drive * warfare * war game, wargame * war groom * war hammer * warhead * war hound * warlord * war machine * warmonger * war of aggression * war of conquest * war of nerves * war of words * war paint, warpaint * war party * warpath * war reparations * war-ridden * warring * warrior * war room * war story * wartime * war to end all wars * war torn, war-torn * war veteran * war whoop * war widow * war zone * world war * World War One * World War Two

    See also

    * battle

    Verb

    (warr)
  • To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
  • * (William Shakespeare), King Henry V , act 3, sc. 1:
  • Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more . . .
    Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
    And teach them how to war .
  • * 1882 , (George Bernard Shaw), Cashel Byron's Profession , ch. 14:
  • This vein of reflection, warring with his inner knowledge that he had been driven by fear and hatred . . ., produced an exhausting whirl in his thoughts.
    To war the Scot, and borders to defend. — Daniel.
  • To carry on, as a contest; to wage.
  • That thou mightest war a good warfare. — Tim. i. 18.

    Statistics

    *

    ward

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ward, from (etyl) . Cognate with German Wart.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic, or, obsolete) A guard; a guardian or watchman.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.xi:
  • no gate they found, them to withhold, / Nor ward to wait at morne and euening late [...].

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ward, warde, from (etyl) ; English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Protection, defence.
  • # (obsolete) A guard or watchman; now replaced by warden .
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • the best ward of mine honour
  • #* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • The assieged castle's ward / Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • For want of other ward , / He lifted up his hand, his front to guard.
  • # The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc. ).
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • Before the dore sat selfe-consuming Care, / Day and night keeping wary watch and ward , / For feare least Force or Fraud should vnaware / Breake in
  • # Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.
  • #* 1485 , Sir (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur) , Book V:
  • So forth the presoners were brought before Arthure, and he commaunded hem into kepyng of the conestabyls warde , surely to be kepte as noble presoners.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward .
  • #* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in the disposal of any of those lords.
  • # An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area, or a social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering, approaching and/or even from being able to locate said-protected premises
  • # (historical, Scots law) Land tenure through military service.
  • # (fencing) A guarding or defensive motion or position.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Thou knowest my old ward ; here I lay, and thus I bore my point.
  • A protected place.
  • # (archaic) An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.
  • #* 1942 , (Rebecca West), Black Lamb and Grey Falcon , Canongate 2006, page 149:
  • Diocletian.
  • #* 2000 , (George RR Martin), A Storm of Swords , Bantam 2011, p. 78:
  • With the castle so crowded, the outer ward had been given over to guests to raise their tents and pavilions, leaving only the smaller inner yards for training.
  • # A section or subdivision of a prison.
  • # An administrative division of a borough, city or council.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Throughout the trembling city placed a guard, / Dealing an equal share to every ward .
  • # (UK) A division of a forest.
  • # (Mormonism) A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch.
  • # A room in a hospital where patients reside.
  • #* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 16, author=Denis Campbell, work=Guardian
  • , title= Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients' , passage=Many hospitals have not taken simple steps to lessen the distress and confusion which dementia sufferers' often feel on being somewhere so unfamiliar – such as making signs large and easy to read, using colour schemes to help patients find their way around unfamiliar wards and not putting family mementoes such as photographs nearby.}}
  • A person under guardianship.
  • # A minor looked after by a guardian.
  • #* , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.}}
  • # (obsolete) An underage orphan.
  • An object used for guarding.
  • # The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.
  • #*, II.1:
  • A man must thorowly sound himselfe, and dive into his heart, and there see by what wards or springs the motions stirre.
  • #* Tomlinson
  • The lock is mademore secure by attaching wards to the front, as well as to the back, plate of the lock, in which case the key must be furnished with corresponding notches.
  • #* 1893 , (Arthur Conan Doyle), ‘The Resident Patient’, Norton 2005, page 628:
  • With the help of a wire, however, they forced round the key. Even without the lens you will perceive, by the scratches on this ward , where the pressure was applied.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) warden, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.
  • * Spenser
  • Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight / To ward the same.
  • To defend, to protect.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Tell him it was a hand that warded him / From a thousand dangers.
  • * 1603 , John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays , II.3:
  • they went to seeke their owne death, and rushed amidst the thickest of their enemies, with an intention, rather to strike, than to ward themselves.
  • To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off .
  • * Daniel
  • Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
  • * Addison
  • The pointed javelin warded off his rage.
  • * I. Watts
  • It instructs the scholar in the various methods of warding off the force of objections.
  • To be vigilant; to keep guard.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.viii:
  • They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward , / And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant [...].
  • To act on the defensive with a weapon.
  • Synonyms
    * (to fend off) ward off

    Anagrams

    * draw

    See also

    * * ----