Word.ws English Dictionary

declaring war

declaring war is the present participle and gerund of declare war.

Meaning of declare war

Verb

declare war (third-person singular simple present declares war, present participle declaring war, simple past and past participle declared war)

  1. To make a formal pronouncement, or sign a legal document, that initiates a state of war between one nation and another, usually before hostilities begin.
    • Germany declared war on France, who reciprocated, on August 3 [1939], and England declared war on Germany on August 4, when Belgium was already under invasion.2007, Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopaedia of World History
  2. (figuratively) To announce one's intention to fiercely combat or eradicate something.
    • The governor declared war on poverty.

Questions about declaring war

What is declaring war the present participle and gerund of?
Declaring war is the present participle and gerund of declare war.

Words near declaring war in the dictionary

  1. declarest
  2. declareth
  3. declarify
  4. declarin'
  5. declaring
  6. declaring war
  7. declarings
  8. declass
  9. declasse
  10. declassed
  11. declasses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: declaring war (page history and authors); declare war (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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