Word of the Day
: September 21, 2015war story
playWhat It Means
: a story of a memorable personal experience typically involving an element of danger, hardship, or adventure
war story in Context
When asked what was most difficult about her present job, the interviewee freely shared some rather entertaining and impressive war stories.
"Now, we old veterans of an educational system that has gone extinct sit back and tell war stories of that time." — Peter Devlin, The Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press-Gazette, 27 July 2015
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's tellers of "war stories" need not have experienced a literal battlefield. In the latter half of the 20th 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.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Test Your Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks to create a word that can refer to a person with long experience in a field or to a work of art or piece of music that has become overly familiar due to much repetition: _ a _ h _ _ se.
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