cold war

Diachronically, back-formation from Cold War: a common noun back-formed from the proper noun naming the first post–WWII instance of the concept; synchronically, cold +‎ war.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkəʊld ˈwɔː/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)

cold war (uncountable)

1. A period of hostile relations between rivals where direct open warfare between them is largely undesired and avoided; especially, either the Cold War or Cold War II.

   Antonym: hot war

   Coordinate term: world war

   • 1945, George Orwell, "You and the Atom Bomb", Tribune, 19 October 1945; reprinted in Orwell, Sonia Orwell, and Ian Angus, George Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, Volume 4: In Front of Your Nose (1946–1950), David R. Godine (2000), ISBN →ISBN, page 9,

     James Burnham's theory has been much discussed, but few people have yet considered its ideological implications—that is, the kind of world-view, the kind of beliefs, and the social structure that would probably prevail in a state which was at once unconquerable and in a permanent state of “cold war” with its neighbours.

   • 1951, Daniel V. Gallery, Clear the Decks, 19 October 1945, page 100,

     World War III started on VJ Day as a cold war. It began to warm up when the Russians blockaded Berlin and nearly reached the exploding point in Korea.

   • 1979, “Broken English”, performed by Marianne Faithfull:

     It's just an old war / Not even a cold war

   • 2023 December 11, Richard Partington, “World economy on brink of ‘cold war two’, IMF official warns”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     The world economy is on the brink of a second cold war that could “annihilate” progress made since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a senior International Monetary Fund official has warned.

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