war story

noun

: a story of a memorable personal experience typically involving an element of danger, hardship, or adventure

politicians swapping war stories from past campaigns

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

He liked to tell war stories from his life as a sea captain.

We exchanged war stories about our time as interns at the same company.

Recent Examples on the Web

Naturally, most people in the room — which sold out to members only before going on sale to the public — were there to hear war stories from Bond, and Craig did not disappoint, even explaining the elaborate secrets of Casino Royale’s torture scene. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2024

His grandfather fought alongside Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata and often shared his war stories from the early 1900s. —Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024

During his visit, students told Zelensky about the rituals and significance of Passover and shared their personal war stories. —Marcel Gascón Barberá, Sun Sentinel, 18 Apr. 2024

This past July, at the National Association of Secretaries of State virtual summer conference, some of the country's top election officials traded war stories from a rocky primary season. —Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 15 Sep. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

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