war story
noun
Did you know?
People have been telling stories about real wars since long before Washington Irving wrote the following in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: "folks . . . sat smoking at one end of the piazza, . . . drawing out long stories about the war." But today tellers of "war stories" need not have experienced a literal battlefield. Around the middle of the 19th century, "war story" took on a more figurative meaning, and nowadays such accounts can encompass challenges in the workplace, on the campaign trail, in sports, in one's travels . . . wherever difficulties need to be overcome.
Examples of war story in a Sentence
Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2026
The pair exclusively sit down with EW to talk about Dorn's advice to the new Klingon cadet and swap war stories over the prosthetics process.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026
The movie selection spans war stories, musicals, thrillers, Westerns, comedies and more, coming from directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hughes and Salvador Dalí.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 26 Dec. 2025
The book is full of harrowing, enraging war stories, but the main subjects are the people of Goražde, the remaining Bosniaks whose survival presents a firm rebuttal to their besiegers.
—Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for war story
Cite this Entry
“War story.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20story. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy Citation
