Great War

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Great War

World War I.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Great War

(Historical Terms) another name for World War I

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

World War I

the war fought mainly in Europe and the Middle East, between the Central Powers and the Allies, beginning on July 28, 1914, and ending on Nov. 11, 1918, with the collapse of the Central Powers.

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Noun

Great War - a war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918

First World War, War to End War, World War 1, World War I

Battle of the Marne, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, Marne River - a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918

battle of Caporetto, Caporetto - battle of World War I (1917); Italians were defeated by the Austrian and German forces

Dardanelles campaign, Dardanelles - the unsuccessful campaign in World War I (1915) by the English and French to open a passage for aid to Russia; defeated by the Turks

battle of Jutland, Jutland - an indecisive naval battle in World War I (1916); fought between the British and German fleets off the northwestern coast of Denmark

Argonne, Argonne Forest, Meuse-Argonne, Meuse-Argonne operation, Meuse, Meuse River - an American operation in World War I (1918); American troops under Pershing drove back the German armies which were saved only by the armistice on November 11

battle of Soissons-Reims, battle of the Aisne, battle of the Chemin-des-Dames, Soissons - a battle in World War I (May 1918); the Germans tried to attack before the American numbers were too great to defeat; the tactical success of the Germans proved to be a strategic failure

Battle of the Somme, Somme, Somme River - battle in World War I (1916)

battle of Tannenberg, Tannenberg - a battle in World War I (1914); decisive German victory over the Russians

battle of Verdun, Verdun - a battle in World War I (1916); in some of the bloodiest fighting in World War I the German offensive was stopped

first battle of Ypres, Ypres, battle of Ypres - battle in World War I (1914); heavy but indecisive fighting as the Allies and the Germans both tried to break through the lines of the others

second battle of Ypres, Ypres, battle of Ypres - battle in World War I (1915); Germans wanted to try chlorine (a toxic yellow gas) as a weapon and succeeded in taking considerable territory from the Allied salient

battle of Ypres, third battle of Ypres, Ypres - battle in World War I (1917); an Allied offensive which eventually failed because tanks bogged down in the waterlogged soil of Flanders; Germans introduced mustard gas which interfered with the Allied artillery

Translations

Première Guerre mondiale

Great War

n the Great War → la Grande Guerra

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

There was once a great war, and the King had a great many soldiers, but he gave them so little pay that they could not live upon it.

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The natural inference was, that they belonged to the two tribes of Sioux which had been expected by the great war party, and that they had been incited to hostility by the two chiefs who had been enraged by the refusal and the menace of Mr.

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Then he ran away to get the ladder, and while he was gone the Horners gathered around and welcomed the strangers to their country, for through them a great war had been avoided.

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When the babe was three years old, just after the great war, during which no man could sow or reap, a famine came upon the land, and the people murmured because of the famine, and looked round like a starved lion for something to rend.

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I am the chief's son, and through me he hoped to win my father's warriors back to the village to help him in a great war he says that he will soon commence.

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As one looked out over the flat Essex country, lying so green and peaceful under the afternoon sun, it seemed almost impossible to believe that, not so very far away, a great war was running its appointed course.

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'But this shall be a great war - a war of eight thousand.' Kim's voice shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing himself.

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Tom Platt dealt with his interminable trip round the Horn on the old Ohio in the flogging days, with a navy more extinct than the dodo - the navy that passed away in the great war. He told them how red-hot shot are dropped into a cannon, a wad of wet clay between them and the cartridge; how they sizzle and reek when they strike wood, and how the little ship-boys of the Miss Jim Buck hove water over them and shouted to the fort to try again.

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A correspondentship in the next great war might be within my reach.

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Nevertheless, whatever a sceptic might urge in theory, we cannot practically doubt that we got up this morning, that we did various things yesterday, that a great war has been taking place, and so on.

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"`The great wars of Romagna had ended; Caesar Borgia, who had completed his conquest, had need of money to purchase all Italy.

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The Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society will launch a historic photo exhibit "Life Before the Great War" with an opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m.