war-game

1 of 2

verb

ˈwȯr-ˌgām 

war-gamed; war-gaming; war-games

transitive verb

: to plan or conduct in the manner of a war game

war-gamed an invasion

—Newsweek

intransitive verb

: to conduct a war game

war game

2 of 2

noun

1

: a simulated battle or campaign to test military concepts and usually conducted in conferences by officers acting as the opposing staffs

2

: a two-sided umpired training maneuver with actual elements of the armed forces participating

Examples of war-game in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

My flight was to be part of a larger war-games exercise involving five other aircraft. —Jim Clash, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

In detailed chapters on topics like modern war-game simulations and the misapplication of game theory in justifying mass privatization, Clancy warns of the societal risks of allowing mathematical models to govern political decisions. —The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

Noun

United States satellites spotted a fleet of Chinese warships transiting a major waterway in the Western Pacific Ocean, following a three-day large-scale war game around Taiwan. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024

The maritime deployment was the largest since China began holding large-scale war games around Taiwan in the mid-1990s, according to the ministry. —Wayne Chang, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1942, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1