ware; aware.-a contest between nations or states, carried on by force, whether for defence, for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the extension of commerce, for the acquisition of territory, for obtaining and establishing the superiority and dominion of one over the other, or for any other purpose; armed conflict of sovereign powers; declared and open hostilities.-a condition of belligerency to be maintained by physical force. in this sense, levying war against the sovereign authority is treason.-instruments of war.-forces; army.-the profession of arms; the art of war.-a state of opposition or contest; an act of opposition; an inimical contest, act, or action; enmity; hostility.-to make war; to invade or attack a state or nation with force of arms; to carry on hostilities; to be in a state by violence.-to contend; to strive violently; to fight.-to make war upon; to fight.-to carry on, as a contest; to wage.