cold war

noun

intense economic, political, military, and ideological rivalry between nations, short of military conflict; sustained hostile political policies and an atmosphere of strain between opposed countries.

a continuing state of resentful antagonism between two parties short of open hostility or violence.

(initial capital letters) rivalry after World War II between the Soviet Union and its satellites and the democratic countries of the Western world, under the leadership of the United States.

Examples from the web for cold war

Ask a defense worker about the cold war and chances are he/she was all for fighting it.
Both films reflect the scientific and global realities of the cold war era.
Of course thanks to some idiotic cold war treaties that is impossible.
Think of it as a peace dividend from the end of the cold war.
It was at odds, he felt, with the issues facing the country after the cold war.
But its depths have boiled with intrigue, no more so than in the cold war.
In one, the speech was the event that led to the end of the cold war.
The last time this sort of optimism was fashionable was during the giddy aftermath of the cold war, a decade ago.
Those who campaigned against nuclear weapons during the cold war are unlikely to change their tune.
By contrast, the end of the cold war was hardly devastating.

British Dictionary definitions for cold war

cold war

noun

a state of political hostility and military tension between two countries or power blocs, involving propaganda, subversion, threats, economic sanctions, and other measures short of open warfare, esp that between the American and Soviet blocs after World War II (the Cold War)

Word Origin and History for cold war

used in print October 1945 by George Orwell; popularized in U.S. c.1947 by Bernard Baruch.

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. [Woody Allen, "My Speech to the Graduates," 1979]

cold war in Culture

cold war definition

A constant nonviolent state of hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States. The cold war began shortly after World War II, with the rapid extension of Soviet influence over eastern Europe and North Korea. With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the cold war ended. (See Berlin airlift, Berlin wall, and Iron Curtain.)