brinkman

It compels the 'brinkmen' to realise that, if they seek to make war on the Soviet Union, they cannot count on cooperation from Britain or France, and probably not from Western Germany.

1958, The Labour Monthly, volume 40, page 18:

The brinkmen Kennan abhorred were supreme realists, and if "the assumption that state behavior is a fit subject for moral judgment" is baseless, then anything, even the realism of atomic blackmail, would be permissible.

1970, John W. Coffey, Realist social thought in America: Reinhold Niebuhr and George F. Kennan:

The Syrian force was pulled back quickly and with reportedly heavy losses, but it stayed around long enough to remind the world that the Syrians are still the biggest blusterers and brinkmen in the Middle East.


warchest

From war (major conflict) + chest (metaphorical place used to store objects).


Carlist Wars

A series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century.


Algerian War

The war between France and the Algerian nationalist FLN from 1954 to 1962, as a result of which Algeria gained its independence from France.


Federal

(chiefly US, law) Alternative form of federal


Iuka

All are apparently named after the Chickasaw chief Iuka. Alternatively the Kansas town was named after the Battle of Iuka.

A village in Marion County, Illinois, United States.

A small city in Pratt County, Kansas, United States.

Livingston County
Livingston County#English

An unincorporated community in Livingston County, Kentucky, United States.

Tishomingo County
Tishomingo County#English

A city, the county seat of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States.

An unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia, United States.


Spotsylvania Courthouse

census-designated place
census-designated place

Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County#English

A census-designated place, the county seat of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States.


Spotsylvania

From Alexander Spotswood (British colonial Lieutenant Governor of Virginia). From Spotswood (“from Spots(wood)”) + sylvan (“pertaining to woods, forest, from (Spots)wood”) + -ia.

af

a battle in the American Civil War; see Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.


European War

From European + war. From being a war fought in Europe.

(Canada, US, obsolete, 1910s) Former name of WWI / World War One / First World War / The Great War.

(1940s-onwards) The European theatre of World War II / WW2 / Second World War


Pacific War

From Pacific + war.
From being a war fought in the Pacific Ocean, and along its coasts.

(1940s onwards) The Pacific theatre of WWII / World War 2 / Second World War.


Pastry War

So called because it was initiated by a complaint to King Louis-Philippe from a French pastry chef known as Monsieur Remontel.

(historical) The first of two 19th-century wars between Mexico and France


RNAS

Royal Navy Air Service
w:en:Royal Navy Air Service

(UK, World War I, aviation) Initialism of Royal Navy Air Service. (British)


A-bomb maiden

Hiroshima maiden
Hiroshima maiden#English


Hiroshima maiden

en-noun

Hiroshima maiden (plural Hiroshima maidens)

(historical) Any of a group of Japanese women who were disfigured by the thermal flash from the fission bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, and who subsequently went on a highly publicized journey to get reconstructive surgery in the United States in 1955.


council of war

A committee of high-ranking military officers convened to consult on urgent matters in wartime.

to hold a council of war

A meeting convened to address a crisis or to make a plan of attack.


crescentade

From crescent, a symbol of Islam; by analogy with crusade.


Radical Republican

Radical Republican (plural Radical Republicans)

(historical) A member of the Republican Party or the Radical Republican Party in the United States, who supported Reconstruction as the rapid full emancipation of African Americans and continuation of the martial law regime in former Confederate states.


nuclear famine

nuclear famine (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear famines)

Famine resulting from the harmful effects of nuclear war on agriculture.


Salo Republic

From Salo + republic; From being a republic whose capital lay in Salo.

(World War II) The Nazi puppet state set up in northern Italy after the capitulation of the Italian government to the Allied powers


Armistice

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[W]hat was to be the future policy of the Associated Governments in regard to the renewal of the Armistice: should the Armistice constantly be renewed, with new clauses and new conditions, or were the final naval and military terms to be drawn up immediately and imposed on the enemy.

1928, David Hunter Miller, “Supreme War Council, February 12, 1919”, in The Drafting of the Covenant, volume 2, New York, N.Y., London: G. P. Putnam's Sons […], →OCLC, page 165:

The armistice of November 1918 could represent many things: the end of the war, the victory. But for the Carnard [the newspaper Le Canard enchaîné], first and foremost, it represented dissention among the French. […] After the armistice and the emergence of the first difficulties of the peace, many more both on the right and in the center argued that the armistice should have been signed in Berlin—in a word, the armistice of November 11 was premature.

2002, Allen Douglas, “Web of Memory”, in War, Memory, and the Politics of Humor: The Canard Enchaîné and World War I, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., London: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 151:

Philomena passed another line of shabby soldiers waiting patiently at a soup kitchen. Months after the Armistice the war wasn't over. […] Dan was killed after the Armistice – an armistice is only a truce, it isn't the end. Is the Armistice technically ended? What will come after the Armistice – the peace? That would be nice.

2009, Nick Stafford, Armistice, London: Quercus, →ISBN:

Later he [British Prime Minister David Lloyd George] meets with the House of Commons and, after an opening prayer is said, reviews the armistice terms, then moves for adjournment.

2018, Richard J. Connors, The Road to the Armistice 1918, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dorrance Publishing Co., →ISBN, pages 66–67:

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have left their own mark of reconciliation at the start of events to mark the centenary of the end of World War One. They signed a book of remembrance in a railway carriage identical to the one in which the 1918 Armistice was sealed. […] Mrs Merkel became the first German leader since World War Two to visit the forest near the town of Compiègne in northern France where the Armistice was signed.

2018 November 10, “Armistice Day: Macron and Merkel mark end of World War One”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2018-11-11:

The armistice agreement signed between the Allies and Germany on 11 November 1918 to end World War I; (by extension) the end of World War I.


war-weary

en-adj

war-weary (comparative war-wearier or more war-weary, superlative war-weariest or most war-weary)

war-wearier (comparative)
more war-weary (comparative)
war-weariest (superlative)
most war-weary (superlative)

/ˈwɔː ˈwɪəɹi/

/ˈwɔɹ ˈwɪəɹi/

Read the language in which the poet of the war-weary Roman world salutes the Augustan empire. [...] The place which Virgil held in the estimation of pious Churchmen though the mediæval period, in which pagan and devilish were almost convertible terms, is mainly due to the almost prophetic character of the visions which the poet paints for his war-weary countrymen of the restoration of the blessed Saturnian reign.

1873 July, J. Baldwin Brown, “The Whole Armour of God”, in [Robert William Dale], editor, The Congregationalist, volume II, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 393:

[T]he three Great Powers should not hesitate to take whatever steps may be necessary to bring about a settlement. They may be war-weary, but they are not too war-weary for that, now that they are united in purpose.

1922 April 6, “Paris and the Near East”, in The Near East, volume XXI, number 569, London: Printed by the Guilbert-Wenham Printing Co., →OCLC, page 460, column 2:

[T]he highest of social circles sought to recognize the poet [Sir Walter Scott] whose flame of patriotism had been an inspiration of England in her war-weariest hours.

1932, S[ydney] Fowler Wright, chapter LVI, in The Life of Sir Walter Scott, London: Poetry League, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Haskell House Publishers, 1971, →ISBN, page 362:

Warweary populations not only needed new investment and economic growth, they also needed a new vision of international economic relations and management [...]. This social need helps to explain the rapid public acceptance of the Bretton Woods plan.

2006, Ngaire Woods, “Whose Institutions?”, in The Globalizers: The IMF, the World Bank, and Their Borrowers (Cornell Studies in Money), Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, →ISBN; republished Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2014, →ISBN:

For general relativity, there was a dramatic experimental test that was possible, one that had the potential to dazzle and help heal a war-weary world.

2007, Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 255:

In military terms, the Tet Offensive was not a victory for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese. But military victory was not the enemy's intent. Their effort was targeted at war-weary Americans watching the bloodshed on their TV screens.

2011, Donald Rumsfeld, “Young Turks”, in Known and Unknown: A Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Sentinel, →ISBN, part III (The U.S. Congress: From Camelot to Quagmire), page 103:

Thus, “the idea of Europe” was fundamentally forged out of war-weary dreams of unity: postwar Europe was always the venue for ripening cosmopolitan and unification models.

2011 October, Mary N. Hampton, “Between Euroland and Abendland? Opportunities and Challenges for German Foreign Policy since Unification”, in Peter C. Caldwell, Robert R. Shandley, editors, German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes (Studies in European Culture and History), New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 45:

Nevertheless, even as these atrocities continue to be committed, some would argue that waging a new war to defeat global Islamic terrorism would only result in the creation of dozens more like Bin Laden and Al-Baghdadi. [...] Further, the opponents to real military action would also lead us to believe that the U.S. is too war-weary to press forward.

2016, H. Edward Phillips III, Islamic State: the Coming Storm, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, →ISBN:

And whiles the honourable Captaine there / Drops bloody ſwet from his warre-wearied limbes, / And in aduantage lingring lookes for reſcue, / You his falſe hopes, the truſt of Englands honor, / Keepe off aloofe with worthleſſe emulation: [...]

[1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 112, column 2:

Sunk in silence and sleep in the cottager's bed, / Oblivion shall visit the war-weary head; / Perchance he may dream, but the vision shall tell, / Of his lady-love's bower and her latest farewell; [...]

1851, M. Kelly, “Rest, Warrior, Rest”, in Gems from the Operas: A Choice Collection of the Most Admired Songs, Duets, Glees, Choruses, &c. &c. […] With All the New Songs, Philadelphia, Pa.: John B. Perry, […], →OCLC, page 46:

"And now," said King Richard, "what say ye all to a feast to celebrate our victory and refresh our war-weary limbs?"

1956, Edward Eager, “The Quest”, in Knight’s Castle, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Children’s Books, w:, →ISBN, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1999, page 186:

Sir, we are getting more modern equipment. In some cases the equipment we are receiving is a little war weary. It does take some rebuilding and repair. [...] [W]e are doing everything we can with Air Force assistance to bring up the level of maintenance of those aircraft that are a little war weary.

1973 March 27, Francis Greenlief (witness), “Department of the Air Force: Reprogramming [Operation and Maintenance, Air National Guard: Reprogramming Request 73-21 P/A]”, in Second Supplemental Appropriation Bill, 1973: Hearings before Subcommittees of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, First Session: Part 3: Department of Defense, Supplemental Budget Requests for Fiscal Year 1973: Reprogrammings […], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 946:

The Eastbourne Convalescent Camp, on the Downs below Beachy Head was a sort of rough-hewn paradise for war-weary officers.

1978, H[arold] E[dward] L[eslie] Mellersh, Schoolboy into War: Book 2: the Autobiography, London: Kimber, →ISBN; republished Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing, 2015, →ISBN:

As the 87th received new fighters and began flying combat missions, another veteran unit started turning in its war-weary airframes for P47s.

2012, Jonathan Bernstein, “Operation Strangle”, in Tony Holmes, editor, P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force (Osprey Combat Aircraft; 92), Botley, Oxfordshire: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 27:

Certain countries' athletes appeared far war-wearier and more sloppily shod than others.

2015, Julie Checkoway, The Three-year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui’s Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory, New York, N.Y.: Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:


INF

Initialism of intermediate-range nuclear forces.

initialism

w:Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

Ellipsis of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.


warlight

Methinks I see their sabers as they flashed in battle's sun, I seem to see the warlight fall on bayonet and gun; Before the farm-house gate I stand and listen for their tread, Forgetting that the mighty camps are guarded by the dead;

1896, Loomis' Musical and Masonic Journal - Volumes 30-31, page 221:

The issues of life and death have by the lurid warlight been forced upon our attention.

1917, Catherine Gasquoine Hartley, Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes, page 32:

We passed industrial buildings, their lights muted, faint as stars, as if we were in a time capsule of the war years when blackouts and curfews had been in effect, when there was just warlight and only blind barges were allowed to move along this stretch of river.

2018, Michael Ondaatje, Warlight, →ISBN, page 81:

The light produced by acts of war, such as exploding bombs.


Big Three

(UK, World War II) The World War II military alliance consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The leaders of that alliance: Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.


horizontal proliferation

Coordinate term: vertical proliferation

weapons of mass destruction
weapon of mass destruction

The spread of weapons of mass destruction to states that did not previously have them.


vertical proliferation

Coordinate term: horizontal proliferation

The increase in the stocks of weapons of mass destruction of states that already had them.


Sherman necktie

en-noun

Sherman necktie (plural Sherman neckties)

/ˈʃɜːmən ˈnɛktaɪ/

From Sherman, the surname of Union Army general William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) + necktie. During the American Civil War, Sherman ordered the destruction of the rails of railways in order to obstruct the Confederate States Army.

We were compelled to go by carriage, as the railroads had been destroyed, the fat-pine cross-ties burned to heat the rails and the red-hot rails wrapped around the trees growing near the track. We used to call these iron rails "Sherman's neckties," and the solemn-looking chimneys standing guard over the former sites of once happy homes were called by the natives "Sherman's monuments."

[1917, James Morris Morgan, chapter XXVIII, in Recollections of a Rebel Reefer, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, page 244:

As the Democrats met in Chicago to declare the war a failure, northern soldiers 700 miles away were making "Sherman neckties" out of the last open railroad into Atlanta by heating the rails over a bonfire of ties and twisting the iron around trees.

1988, James M. McPherson, “We are Going to be Wiped Off the Earth”, in Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (The Oxford History of the United States; 6), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2003, →ISBN, page 774:

I break camp and push down the road to the tiny town of Lithonia. It was here that [William Tecumseh] Sherman saw the first homes on the March to the Sea go up in flames as his men wrecked the railroad, twisting the iron rails into Sherman's Neckties.

1995, Jerry Ellis, chapter 11, in Marching through Georgia: My Walk with Sherman, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; Marching through Georgia: My Walk along Sherman’s Route, paperback edition, Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 2002, →ISBN, page 74:

Sherman's army cut a swath of destruction fifty miles wide as it marched leisurely through Georgia without any meaningful Confederate resistance. The men destroyed nearly all property in their path, famously twisting railroad tracks around tree trunks—"Sherman neckties"—so they would never be usable again.

2006, Christopher J. Olsen, “Confederate Families at War in 1864–1865”, in The American Civil War: A Hands-on History, New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, →ISBN; paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, 2007, →ISBN, page 214:

Sherman, however, had grown to hate the Confederate trains running into Atlanta almost as much as the armies behind the city's earthworks. He declared, "Let the destruction be so thorough that not a rail or tie can be used again." The troops had a two-day-long Sherman necktie party.

2009, Marc [Josef] Wortman, “The First Bonfire”, in The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta, New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, →ISBN, part VI (War is Cruelty, and You Cannot Refine It), page 306:

The Road to Tara Museum had a lot of Gone with the Wind and almost no Sherman, except for one twisted Sherman's necktie.

2014, Anne Sarah Rubin, “Conclusion: Rubin’s March”, in Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and American Memory, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 232:

(US, rail transport, historical, chiefly in the plural) A segment of rail that has been heated and twisted into a loop, as a means of destroying a railway.

Confederate States Army
Fort McAllister Historic State Park
Union Army
William Tecumseh Sherman


Johnny Turk

(obsolete, informal, military slang) An Ottoman soldier in World War One, particularly a Turkish one.


liberty ship

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Originally used in a speech by then U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt when the first of the ships were launched to emphasize their purpose, and then later spread.

(nautical) A simple, cheap cargo ship built in the United States during World War II.


cherch

en-verb

cherch (third-person singular simple present cherches, present participle cherching, simple past and past participle cherched)

cherches (present singular third-person)
cherching (participle present)
cherched (participle past)
cherched (past)

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(US military slang, World War I) To scrounge, to obtain in an unintended fashion, to scrape together.


Red Star

A depiction of a red star, often used as a symbol of communism and the Soviet Union.


Warsaw Uprising

For Poles, the Warsaw Uprising is one of the several exceptionally painful tragedies that indelibly stamp Poland’s struggle for survival from its extinction from Europe’s political map in the Third Partition of 1795 to its independence in 1989.

(historical) a major World War II operation, in the summer of 1944, by the Polish underground resistance, led by the Home Army, to liberate Warsaw from German occupation.


Home Army

During World War II, the Home Army was the largest underground army in Europe organized to fight the German (and Soviet) occupying forces.

(history) the dominant Polish resistance movement in Poland, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, during World War II.


bombing run

There’s palpable peril in the squadron’s ever-mounting bombing runs, and Cathcart’s moving target of a mission quota makes a clever parallel to contemporary America’s Forever War, but the flight sequences wind up acquiring a deadening repetitiousness

2019 May 16, Erik Adams, “A potent satire has its wings clipped in Catch-22”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-09-01:

(military) The route of a bomber as it approaches its target; a sortie of a bomber


Hanfordite

(rare, historical) Someone working at the Hanford Site, a nuclear production facility active during World War II.

(rare) Someone from or residing in Hanford, California, United States.


four-minute warning

en-noun

four-minute warning (plural four-minute warnings)

(idiomatic) A UK government public alert system in use during the Cold War to advise of an imminent nuclear attack.


Sherman's necktie

Sherman's necktie (plural Sherman's neckties)


coffin corner

coffin corner (American football)
coffin corner (aerodynamics)

We'd though that because of the TNT we might be somewhere in the middle. But we got the rear corner on the starboard side. They call that the coffin corner.

1943, William Harrison Fetridge, The navy reader, page 207:

Suddenly we spotted her coming directly for the Spencer, since the Spencer was the last ship in the column next to the sun ('coffin corner,' it is called.)

1945, National 4-H Club News - Volumes 23-24, page 16:

Forgetting he was an officer, I shot back, "Friend, you didn't draw coffin corner because of me, I drew it because of you!"

1995, Robert L. Thompson, Flying in coffin corner, page 278:

However, most survivors remembered it as positioned in "coffin corner", where it was especially vulnerable to attack from the air or by submarine, thus the name.

1998, Dr. James G. Bennett, The Rohna Disaster: World War Ii's Secret Tragedy, page 87:

He had been rostered in the safest position—high element number three—but now when he came to take off he was back in low number two—”coffin corner.”

2007, John Nichol, Tony Rennell, Tail-End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War, 1944-45:

Also, at a briefing that morning, we learned much to our dismay that once again our squadron's position in the formation was to be at the tail end of the lower left echelon, the infamous “coffin corner."

2009, Harry X. Ford, Mud, Wings, and Wire, page 169:

Each time we had a flight, we were assigned a different spot in the formation. Our crew members knew that, eventually, we would be assigned the “coffin corner.”

2010, Kenneth V. Horrigan, Coffin Corner: The True Story of Kenneth Horrigan:

(World War II) The position in a formation of ships or bombers that is most exposed to enemy fire.


mossyback

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From mossy + back (in sense 2 (“person who stayed hidden to evade conscription during the American Civil War”) probably a variant of mossback, which is attested earlier), alluding to someone or something that is so old or has remained so unmoving that it is as if moss has grown on them or it.
Sense 3.2 (“menhaden”) may be influenced by mossbunker.

(informal, historical, obsolete) Synonym of mossback (“a person who stayed hidden to evade conscription (especially by the Confederate States Army) during the American Civil War (1861–1865)”)


warcore

Coined by Steff Yotka in Vogue in 2018, from war + -core.

Arguably, this strain of warcore clothing is reflective of the violence, chaos, and widespread anxiety in the world at large.

2018 July 27, Steff Yotka, “Has Warcore Replaced Normcore in Fashion?”, in Vogue:

Your trench coat, your chinos, your Father’s Day necktie—your closet overflows with gear that was originally worn by stout patriots, fearful conscripts, and paid killers. But this warcore thing is new.

2019 March 6, Troy Patterson, “From Grunt Style to 'Warcore,' Civilians Are Embracing Military Fashion”, in The New Yorker:

They can be thrown on top of a denim jacket or underneath a light coat for extra warmth, or can even be worn as part of a multi-pocketed warcore ensemble.

2020 January 2, Adam Welch, Ashley Clarke, “20 menswear essentials for 2020”, in Mr Porter:

A style of fashion characterised by aspects of military apparel.


FOBS

(historical) Acronym of fractional orbit bombardment system.


go code

(US, military) A launch code to commence a nuclear attack.


Sherman's hairpin

Sherman's hairpin (plural Sherman's hairpins)


nucleomitophobia

Coined by psychiatrist Milton Arnold Dushkin in the early 1960s, from nucleo- (“atomic nucleus”) + mito- (“mitosis”) + -phobia (“fear of”), in reference to a supposed resemblance of atomic fission to cellular division.

Nikita Krushchev's war of nerves was plainly having an effect on the U.S. citizenry... There were the usual neurotics. In Chicago, public officials received a spate of calls from women complaining that their hair curlers were radioactive, from men suspicious of the olives in their martinis. (Chicago Psychiatrist Milton A. Dushkin named the ailment "nucleomitophobia"—fear of the atom).

1961 September 29, “The People: Ready to Act”, in Time:

A physician says the Nuclear Age has spawned a new phobia—nucleomitophobia, or fear of the atom. An article in Today's Health, a magazine published by the American Medical Assn., said public officials have received a rash of calls from persons who believe they are radioactive.

1961 November 19, Cedar Rapids Gazette, page 122:

When they are frantically expanding armament and making preparations for war, and they need to create war hysteria, they encourage man-made nucleomitophobia to spread rampantly, letting people know how radioactivity is already "threatening normal life in the United States." But when they want to sell their milk, they have to try "to find ways and means to set people's minds at ease regarding the question of radioactivity." Under the capitalist system, which is characterized by irresoluble contradictions, such jokes cannot be avoided.

1963 January, Michael Freeberne, translating an article in the 1 March 1962 Hongqi (《红旗》) in "Chinese Vignettes", Problems of Communism, Vol. XII, No. 1, p. 15

Bertie Rupp, who wanted to become a farmer in his youth, is entrapped by city life and achieves brief celebrity as the man who aestheticized continuous computer stationery. Disenchantment and nucleomitophobia (an exaggerated fear of atomic Armageddon) cause him to drop out.

1988, Brian Stableford, "American Book of the Dead", Fiction & Fantasy Book Review Annual

I SUFFER, I HASTEN TO SAY, FROM NUCLEOMITOPHOBIA, THE FEAR of atomic attack, and my quest for a cure has led me to grapple with the great debate on war and peace as it is being carried on in the United States.

1999, Arthur Herzog III, The War–Peace Establishment, page vii:

Fear of nuclear weapons is known as nucleomitophobia. The same term applies to fear of atomic energy... The fear is based on a feeling by individuals that they have no control over the fate of the world and that nuclear weapons can kill off all of human life and civilization. This fear is also related to a fear of death and a fear of apocalypse, or the end of the world.

2008, Ronald M. Doctor & al., The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties, 3rd ed., s.v. "nuclear war and nuclear weapons"

Fear of nuclear radiation, now especially atomic bombs.


Lincolnite

(US, historical) A supporter of Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), his policies, or Northern interests during the American Civil War.


commerce raiding

commerce raiding (countable and uncountable, plural commerce raidings)

Although the Admiralty have published no report on the subject of the last manœuvres, it is generally believed that, during the short period commerce raiding lasted, Sir W. May's fleet, limited as the area was, and stringent as the rules laid down as to exemptions, did far more damage to our trade than the authorities care to make known.

1907, Captain R. N., “Food for Thought”, in The United Service Magazine:

(military, historical) A form of naval warfare that primarily targets enemy merchant ships on the open sea.


DKM

From German DKM, from German Deutsche Kriegsmarine, from deutsch+Kriegsmarine, from Krieg+Marine.

(military, nautical, World War II, initialism) A ship prefix used for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine.

H. M. S.

His Majesty's Ship; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland


Xhosa Wars

A series of wars between Europeans in the Cape Colony and the Xhosa to the east, from 1779 to 1879.


War of the Axe

The seventh Xhosa war (1846-1847), which began with the theft of an axe.


ERW

(military) Initialism of enhanced-radiation weapon (“neutron bomb”).


shooting war

An outright war between military powers.


joy division

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Here they kept close watch over the girls' bodies to keep them whole, undamaged. Here, when a girl was flogged she was not permitted to return to the Joy Division. She was immediately tossed on the van and—Off to the crematorium!

1955, Ka-tzetnik 135633, translated by Moshe M. Kohn, House of Dolls, New York: Simon & Schuster, →OCLC, page 174:

As the girl, in the present moment, beseeches him to “look,” in a flashback Sol is forced by the commandant to look as various members of the “joy division,” and then specifically his wife, service SS guards.

2013, Jacqui A. Miller, “The Pawnbroker”, in Carlos E. Cortés, editor, Multicultural America, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 1686:

(historical, World War II) A Nazi concentration camp brothel and its battalion of conscripted sex slaves of young Jewish women.


Lincolniana

Objects, materials, or documents relating to Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), 16th president of the United States.


French 75

A cocktail made with gin, champagne and lemon juice.


Tedder certificate

Tedder certificate (plural Tedder certificates)

The certificates were issued in the name of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder.

(historical) An award given to foreign citizens who assisted British service personnel to escape from German captivity in Western Europe during World War II.


LOW

(rail transport) The station code of Lo Wu in Hong Kong.


Stalin's organ

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Calque of German Stalinorgel, in reference to its resemblance to a pipe organ and its distinctive sound.

(military, World War II, slang) A Katyusha rocket launcher.


missile gap

Coordinate term: bomber gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the United States.


bomber gap

Coordinate term: missile gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the USSR's ability to deploy jet-powered strategic bombers.


cottonclad

(nautical) A wooden warship, of the Confederate States during the American Civil War, that used bales of cotton to protect it from enemy fire.


glass parking lot

A wide range of explosives can convert sand into glass upon detonation, as a temperate of only 1700 Celsius is required. The most recognized generation process was through nuclear testing with the discovery of (Trinitite), but other munition are capable of the same result, without implying the use of a nuclear attack.

[…]it is common for Americans to respond with the convictions that "they wouldn't dare" and "we'll turn them into a glass parking lot" (that is, we'll attack them with nuclear weapons until there is nothing left of them).

2015, Brad Roberts, The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century:

(US, informal) Total destruction in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.


doomsday plane

(informal) An aircraft to be used as an airborne command post in the event of nuclear war or similar large-scale disaster.


Free China

Chungking became the wartime capital of Free China, and Szechwan, that vast, barely accessible province hidden behind steep mountain ranges, became the country’s wartime base.

1943, Hubert Freyn, Free China's New Deal, New York: Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 6:

Work centers in Nanping (formerly called Yenping) where are located the Nanping General Hospital and a high school for boys and girls. The conference has about 50 churches and 3,000 members. This conference is in Free China. Refugee institutions from Foochow have been temporarily located within the Yenping Conference—the Hwa Nan College and Hwa Nan High School at Nanping, and the Anglo-Chinese College and Union Kindergarten Training School at Yankow.

1944, Arthur J. Moore, Christ After Chaos, New York: Board of Missions and Church Extension The Methodist Church, →OCLC, page 32:

(historical, World War II) Those areas of China not occupied by Japan, including areas dominated by Communist resistance.


catalytic war

By this definition, World War I was a catalytic war, set off by Serbia and Austria, which also had some overtones of "reciprocal fear of surprise attack" and "self-fulfilling prophecy," because the side which mobilized first was likely to win.

1966, Richard A. Falk, Saul H. Mendlovitz, The Strategy of World Order: Toward a theory of war prevention, page 30:

Indeed a catalytic war seems much more likely to be touched off by a desperate or vengeful power than an ambitious one.

1968, United States Air Force Academy. Department of Political Science, Mark E. Smith, American Defense Policy (page 91)

A war initiated by one party and continued by others.


First War

Synonym of First World War (“World War I”)


Second War

Second World War
Second World War#English

Synonym of Second World War (“World War II”)


highly-enriched uranium

(nuclear physics, military) Enriched uranium containing at least 20% uranium-235 (some applications, such as fission weapons and naval reactors, use uranium enriched to as high as 80-95% uranium-235), and therefore capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction without needing a moderator; used in nuclear weapons and in a few types of nuclear reactors requiring very high power density or high neutron flux.


tacnuke

Probably it would go as this: the Soviets attack with as little warning as possible in a holiday with a massive BC assault together with their mechanized wave. Maybe a tacnuke or two (or two dozens) are exchanged between WARPACT and NATO troops in Germany and Turkey (i'm thinking of the Thrace area). After 2-3 weeks either the Soviets reach the Rhine and ask for an armistice or the war stalemates and ask for an armistice.

2018 October 16, El_Presidente, “Reply to "WW3 in the late 80s: How long does the munition last?"”, in alternatehistory.com, archived from the original on 2021-02-21:

(military, slang) A tactical nuclear weapon.


downblend

en-verb

downblend (third-person singular simple present downblends, present participle downblending, simple past and past participle downblended)

downblends (present singular third-person)
downblending (participle present)
downblended (participle past)
downblended (past)

The facility has the capacity to downblend 5 tonnes of bomb-grade uranium per year.

highly-enriched uranium
highly-enriched uranium

slightly-enriched uranium
slightly-enriched uranium

low-enriched uranium
low-enriched uranium

(usually transitive, nuclear physics) To blend highly-enriched uranium, typically from decommissioned nuclear weapons, with uranium containing a low concentration of fissile uranium-235 (slightly-enriched uranium, natural uranium, or depleted uranium) in order to convert it to low-enriched uranium suitable for use as fuel in standard power reactors but not usable for a fission bomb.


prompt criticality

en-noun

prompt criticality (usually uncountable, plural prompt criticalities)

The system is thought to have approached prompt criticality, at which time the rate of power increase would have been determined by the neutron lifetime (on the order of milliseconds).

2000, Thomas P. McLaughlin with Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov, “I. A. 19. Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, 17 October 1978”, in A Review of Criticality Accidents: 2000 Revision, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 2022-03-25, page 46:

(nuclear physics) The point at which the prompt neutrons produced by a nuclear fission chain reaction are just sufficient to sustain the chain reaction on their own (the state of being prompt critical); past this point, changes in reaction power are controlled by changes in the prompt neutron flux, and occur on a timeframe of milliseconds, too rapidly to be controlled by mechanical means.


prompt critical

The number of fissions in the two prompt critical excursions was estimated from (1) the doses received by the operator and shift supervisor and (2) the measured exposure rate from fission product gamma–rays (1.5 mR/s at 3 m from the vessel, 1 hour after the last excursion).

2000, Thomas P. McLaughlin with Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov, “I. A. 17. Mayak Production Association, 10 December 1968”, in A Review of Criticality Accidents: 2000 Revision, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 2021-02-24, page 42:

(nuclear physics) Of the point where the prompt neutrons produced by a nuclear fission chain reaction are just sufficient to sustain the chain reaction on their own, past which changes in reaction power occur on a timeframe of milliseconds, too rapidly for a human operator to control.


NDB

non-directional beacon
nuclear depth bomb

(aviation) Initialism of non-directional beacon, a type of radiobeacon used in air navigation which transmits an omnidirectional radio signal containing no encoded information about the direction from an aircraft to the beacon.

non-directional beacon

(military, nautical) Initialism of nuclear depth bomb.


war establishment

war establishment (countable and uncountable, plural war establishments)

In the case of a European war, we presume that the strength of the different units would be brought up to the regulation full war establishment.

the number of military troops and equipment that a military unit is supposed to have in wartime


EXCOMM

(US, historical) The Executive Committee of the National Security Council: a body of United States government officials that convened to advise President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.


balance of terror

Probably coined by Lester Pearson in June 1955 at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter: “The balance of terror has succeeded the balance of power.”

(historical) The tenuous peace that existed during the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.


anti-ballistic missile

anti-ballistic missile (plural anti-ballistic missiles)

(military, astronautics) A missile designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in flight.


finite deterrence

(military) The strategy of making a nuclear victory so costly that it is preferable for the enemy not to fight.


Foch

Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal in the First World War


Lost Cause

From the generic term lost cause. The Confederacy was, of course, defeated.

Also implicit was the idea that all southerners accepted the basic tenets of the Lost Cause myth and concurred in this celebration of the Confederacy.

1993 April, H. E. Gulley, “Women and the Lost Cause: preserving a Confederate identity in the American Deep South”, in Journal of Historical Geography, volume 19, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 125–141:

The belief that the Confederate cause during the American Civil War was just and not related to slavery.


war of independence

war of independence (plural wars of independence)

A civil war by which a rebellious party achieves its independence from a state or ruler.


supermissile

An interview with Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations in which he describes the Navy's role in an era of H-bombs and supermissiles.

1956, Army Library (U.S.), Special Bibliographies, United States Department of the Army, Army Library, page 91:

For example, the details of the new Soviet SS9 supermissile, which apparently was not thought to be a proper subject to include in a formal “posture statement” were abruptly declassified and trotted out as Exhibit A in the case for Soviet aggressiveness as it was presented live for all to see and hear.

1969, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on International Organization and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic and Foreign Policy Implications of ABM Systems, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 316:

“It’s a bomber! It’s a supermissile! No — it’s a dove.”

1981 November 20, Herbert Lawrence Block, “‘It’s a Dove”, in coldwar.unc.edu:

(military) An extremelypowerful, self-propelled projectile whose trajectory is adjustable after it is launched.


Dead Hand

The system may no longer be a central element of Russian strategy—US-based Russian arms expert Pavel Podvig calls it now "just another cog in the machine"—but Dead Hand is still armed.

2009 September 21, Nicholas Thompson, “Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine”, in Wired, →ISSN:

A system capable of closing a strategic nuclear strike control loop in the absence of normal command and control channels, analogous in concept to a deadman switch, in anticipation of a decapitation strike. Implemented by the Soviet Union and by the Russian Federation as the successor state thereof.


doomsday bomb

The doomsday bomb is terrifying. It puts the mightiest nukes to shame.

Synonym for doomsday device or doomsday weapon


Chancellorsville

After George Chancellor; from Chancellor + -s- + -ville.

An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States.


Burma Road

From the name of a road in Burma which ran to the frontier with China, built in 1937–1938 by the British in order to circumvent the Japanese blockade of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) during World War II.

A “Burma Road” for Africa, or, in fact, a pair of “Burma Roads,” may develop from the current improvement of British and Free French roads across Central Africa.

1942 March 9, “New Allied Life Line Across Africa”, in Geographic School Bulletin, volume 21, number 3:

Between January 1, 1943, and June 1, 1945, an average of slightly more than 17 trains plied daily between the two termini of the railway. During all this period, it served as the super-Burma Road to Russia.

1947, Raj Narain Gupta, Iran: An Economic Study, page 145:

The Israelis were able to break the stranglehold by bypassing the normal route to Jerusalem through building a “Burma Road” to resupply the city.

2007, Michael Rydelnik, Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict: What the Headlines Haven’t Told You, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 102:

(figuratively) An important military supply route.

Second Sino-Japanese War
The Railway Magazine


hyperbomb

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hyperbomb.wav

The hyperbomb of that day will have lost meaning as a weapon and gained meaning as a complex substitute for Francoise Sagan's "sports" car, as this death device is so playfully called.

1957, Clifton Fadiman, Any Number Can Play, World Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 33:

"He went back inside," Igor grunted. "After examining the artefacts we'd packed for dispatch. Probably wants to make sure the computer records don't describe them as ultra-guns or hyperbombs or whatever the hell."

1974, John Brunner, Total Eclipse, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 33:

We entered an area where a hyperbomb had been detonated during the war.

2014, J. Michael Reeves, Terry Austin, Byron Preiss, I—Alien, J. Boylston, →ISBN:

(rare, military, science fiction, video games) An exceedingly powerful, destructive bomb; superbomb.


Armenian genocide

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Armenian genocide.wav

(historical) The systematic mass murder of around one million ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1915–1917).

Meds Yeghern

used especially by Armenians when speaking English


War of the Sicilian Vespers

the War of the Sicilian Vespers (canonical)

1999, Donald J. Kagay, Donald Kagay, L. J. Andrew Villalon (editors), The Circle of War in the Middle Ages, Boydell & Brewer (The Boydell Press), page xiv,
In the last of this section's papers, Lawrence Mott deals with the emergence of the Crown of Aragon as a Mediterranean power during the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302).

In addition to the Hohenstaufens, the Aragonese were also targets of French venom after the conclusion of the War of the Sicilian Vespers.

2011, Michael A. Ryan, A Kingdom of Stargazers, Cornell University Press, page 48:

The resulting War of the Sicilian Vespers would endure for the next twenty years and would involve almost every part of the Mediterranean in some way.

2015, Charles D Stanton, Medieval Maritime Warfare, Pen & Sword Books, page 136:

(historical) A war between the Crowns of Aragon and Angevin which was triggered by the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282 and resulted in the division of the Kingdom of Sicily, with Aragon taking the island while Angevin retained the peninsular territories.


peace through strength

The idea that nations can remain in peace by display of their military power as a deterrent to war.


Derg

Borrowed from Amharic ደርግ (därg, “committee; council”).

bor+

(historical) The Provisional Military Administrative Council, the communist military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987.


Thirty Years' War

(historical) A conflict fought largely within the Holy Roman Empire from 1618 to 1648.

三十年戦争

さんじゅうねん せんそう


Aroostook War

(historical) A military and civilian confrontation (1838–1839) between the United States and the United Kingdom over dispute of an international boundary between the British colony of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine.


dive-bomb

en-verb

dive-bomb (third-person singular simple present dive-bombs, present participle dive-bombing, simple past and past participle dive-bombed)

dive-bombs (present singular third-person)
dive-bombing (participle present)
dive-bombed (participle past)
dive-bombed (past)

On June 13, the cross-channel steamer St. Patrick was dive-bombed and sunk by enemy aircraft towards the end of its trip from Rosslare to Fishguard.

1941 August, “Notes and News: G.W.R. Steamer Sunk”, in Railway Magazine, page 380:


Uranium Club

(historical) A German project during World War II to research nuclear technology, including nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors.


McNuke

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-McNuke.wav

From Mc- + nuke; a McDonaldsesque rendering of the word nuke to imply its ubiquitous and unconditional availability.

Everybody has nukes. It is so bad, reports now say that McDonald's is
developing the McNuke.

1999 October 15, no...@house.gov, “1999CRH10036B EVERYBODY HAS NUKES”, in gov.us.fed.congress.record.house (Usenet):

Well, even though I am an evil Amerikan retentionistae, I have to admit that
the thought of a McNuked McFoodstand is delightful indeed. One down, about
five thousand to go...

2000 April 19, Terry C. Shannon, “French Heros^([sic]) Strike Blow Against McDonalds^([sic])”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet):

Smooth thinking, Rich! Perhaps a few dozen Russian nuclear scientist can
go to work for Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or Argentina if McDonalds^([sic])
stops taking applications. Just think, the McNuke! You want fries with
that?

2005 May 22, LarryG, “Sky & Telescope's News Bulletin - May 20”, in sci.astro (Usenet):

This is precisely the type of discussion we need to have. There is "gun control" and there is "gun control." A strong case - which I made repeatedly and successfully - can be made for the right of self-defense through gun ownership. Going from this to an absolute refusal to even discuss things like red flags, large capacity mags, bump stocks...not to mention automatic weapons, RPGs, McNukes...means an end of discussion for a huge number of people. This is what he means by "pragmatic."

2018 November 7, fundraisi...@lpcolorado.org, “Fwd: Angry Letter to Libertarian Party - Where the F*** are you?”, in LPCO-open-business (Usenet):

(humorous, informal) A hypothetical, commercially available nuclear bomb.


Tsar Bomba

Borrowed from Russian Царь-бо́мба (Carʹ-bómba, “emperor of bombs”).

bor

A 50-megaton thermonuclear bomb, detonated by the Soviet Union in October 1961. It was the biggest nuclear bomb ever exploded.


border state

In the American Civil War, one of the slave states that did not join the Confederacy.


Emancipation Proclamation

A proclamation, announced by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and going into effect on January 1, 1863; that all slaves in areas in rebellion (i.e. under Confederate control) would be free.


Harpers Ferry

From Harper's ferry, after a ferry operated by Robert Harper.

Allamakee County
Allamakee County#English

A minor city in Taylor Township, Allamakee County, Iowa, United States.


Okolona

A number of places in the United States:

A neighbourhood of Louisville, Kentucky.

Chickasaw County
Chickasaw County#English

A city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi. It was the site of the Battle of Okolona in the American Civil War, with Confederate forces being led by Nathan Bedford Forrest.

An unincorporated community in Napoleon Township, Henry County, Ohio.


Manhattan Project

A program by the United States during World War II, to develop an atomic bomb


cobalt bomb

A nuclear bomb that includes cobalt, which will absorb neutrons and become radioactive cobalt-60.


implosion bomb

A nuclear bomb that uses implosion to compress the fissile material, so that it goes from subcritical to critical.


gun-type bomb

gun-type bomb . (canonical)
gun-type bombs (plural)

A nuclear bomb that slams one piece of nuclear explosive into another, forming a critical mass.


Cuban Missile Crisis

A diplomatic crisis in 1962, between the United States and the Soviet Union, over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba. It almost led to nuclear war.


bomb material

Material that is good for making nuclear bombs: e.g., certain isotopes of uranium, neptunium, and plutonium.


nuclear fratricide

en-noun

nuclear fratricide (plural nuclear fratricides)

The damage or destruction of nuclear warheads from other nuclear warheads


World Freedom Day

I made my first visit to Taiwan in 1974 in order to take part in a World Freedom Day rally in Taipei. The rally was sponsored by the World League for Freedom and Democracy, an organization with 120 national chapters worldwide.

2005, Jesse Helms, Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page https://archive.org/details/hereswhereistand0000helm/page/n200/:

a memorial day celebrated on January 23 in Taiwan and South Korea


superwarhead

And he said the Russians would need a "superwarhead" on their own minuteman-type weapon in order to be successful.

1961, Associated Press Clippings File Europe Disorders 1961-09-01, Press Association Inc., page 2:

A thousand times more powerful than the A-bomb that destroyed Nagasaki, this superwarhead would be capable of imposing great blast or overpressure on a very large area.

1970, Ralph E. Lapp, Arms Beyond Doubt: The Tyranny of Weapons Technology, Cowles Book Company, →ISBN, page 59:

Approval for its development may have been facilitated by Khrushchev’s interest in large-yield "terror weapons," for whose delivery the SS-9 was ideally suited. (Khrushchev boasted publicly about the Soviet possession of such weapons and the atmospheric thermonuclear test series conducted in August-September 1961 included the explosion of a superwarhead with a yield of approximately 50 megatons.)

1977, The Military in Contemporary Soviet Politics: An Institutional Analysis, Praeger, →ISBN, page 190:

However, every smaller terrorist state has its own superwarheads, happily sold to them by the big powers' armament industries. The problem of the deterrent has merely been displaced to the irresponsible and the fanatical.

1990, Christine Brooke-Rose, Verbivore, Carcanet, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 47:

(rare, military) An extremely destructive and powerful warhead.


German 88

(colloquial, World War II, military, historical) A WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery multi-purpose field gun.


warhungry

en-adj

warhungry (comparative more warhungry, superlative most warhungry)

more warhungry (comparative)
most warhungry (superlative)

UK?!? Those tights-wearing slops? Never! The blood of warhungry vikings flows in my blood! I'm Danish!!!!! And you?

2000 May 31, Anders Honore, “weather report”, in alt.philosophy.zen (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:

The thing that surprised me most about the figures were:
1. How warhungry India and Israel are. While on average, about 20% of the worlds population think the USA ought to attack a country found responsible, it rises to 54% in the USA (as one might expect), but its^([sic]) a massive 72% and 77% in India and Israel!

2001 November 8, GD, “Cluster Bombs”, in aus.politics (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:

If America goes to war with North-Korea I am absolutely sure that even if North-Korea is likely to loose,^([sic]) the vast majority of the world will cheer if America gets punched in ways that make Pearl Harbor and September 11th look like Thanksgiving.
That would teach warhungry America a good lesson and make people in most poor countries celebrate.

2003 April 7, Herbert, “Next stop: N-Korea”, in us.politics (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:

Face it, Americans suck. Theyre the most warhungry nutters on the face of the planet

2003 July 15, pork'n'stuffing, “Franklin Mint & Diana”, in soc.culture.british (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:

You are going to be destroyed, the world perhaps not going to be a better place because of that, but the most warhungry Empire in the world will have met its well deserved fate.

2012 September 25, Jos Boersema, “Jews and Communism”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:

And when everybody around you is a warhungry savage;
going full out peace loving tree hugging save the planet mode did not work.

2014 September 11, Bassos, “The Quran - The Final Revelation to Mankind”, in alt.magick (Usenet), retrieved 2022-03-02:


pals battalion

From pals + battalion, from the sense that one's pals would fight along with them.

(UK, military, historical) A group of men who were friends before being enlisted, all of whom were placed into a single battalion in order to incentivize enlistment in the British Army during World War I.


Rocketman

Coined by Donald Trump in September 19, 2017 for a United Nations speech, in reference to Kim's launch of military rockets.

coined

Rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.

Little Rocketman has totally misrepresented denuke plan we offered. Deals can't get made when there is no trust! Fat kid blew it and will be sorry. Sad!
[…]
Rocketman's sister IS NOT North Korea's IVANKA. Ivanka is 6 feet tall. She's got the best body. Rocketman's sister is flat as a board!

2018 August 7, Dr Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against The United States, Random House, →ISBN, →OCLC:

It wouldn't surprise me. I thought Trump was using Bolton as the "bad cop" in
North Korea, and would use him to annoy Rocketman, then fire him and be the
"good cop".

2019 October 2, Rick Sabian, “THE WHISTLE BLOWER IS”, in alt.checkmate (Usenet):

Today in North Korea we see the lasting Karma of those events where the Japanese mutilated millions for the sheer lust of it. And North Korea's Rocketman wins the fearful adoration of his peoples in consequence.

2019 October 23, RANCE DEWITT, AMAZON COVENANT 2020 TRUMP and BOLSONARO, Lulu.com, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(slang, humorous, derogatory, neologism) North Korean politician Kim Jong-un.


war of ideas

A disagreement of opposing ideas between countries, which leads to the exercise of their influence abroad to spread their respective ideologies.


Sherman's bow tie

en-noun

Sherman's bow tie (plural Sherman's bow ties)


Jeff Davis's necktie

Jeff Davis's necktie (plural Jeff Davis's neckties)


war is hell

The short-term and long-term effects of war are greatly devastating and immeasurable.


space bridge

In a later Donahue/Pozner space bridge the question of editing was dramatically underscored on air in the Soviet Union.

1992, Ellen Mickiewicz, Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union, page 48:

(historical) A series of experimental international telecasts between Soviet and United States viewers, arranged by enthusiasts during the late Cold War era.


Napoleonic Wars

A cockpit, which was still used for cock-fighting during the Napoleonic Wars, used to occupy the site of the vicarage.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 224, about Heptonstall:

The series of wars (1803–1815) between France (ruled by Napoleon) and other European countries.

By the start of the 19th century, Europe was neckdeep in the Napoleonic Wars, which, at various times, amounted to the British Empire against Europe, and, at others, involved Britain subsidising various nations, such as Austria and Prussia, against Napoleon.

2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 1:18 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 2024-11-29:

(loosely) The entire series of wars (1792–1815) between France and other European countries between the French Revolution and the fall of Napoleon.


rocket artillery

rocket artillery (usually uncountable, plural rocket artilleries)

(military) Artillery that uses rockets as projectiles, instead of shells or shot; artillery composed of rocket launchers instead of guns.

реактивная артиллерия (reaktivnaya artilleriya, literally “Rocket artillery”) (Literally)


cross someone's T

en-verb

cross someone's T (third-person singular simple present crosses someone's T, present participle crossing someone's T, simple past and past participle crossed someone's T)

crosses someone's T (present singular third-person)
crossing someone's T (participle present)
crossed someone's T (participle past)
crossed someone's T (past)

From the shape formed by the opposing battle lines, which resembles a capital letter T.

No sooner has the fleet settled onto this course than a small group of Japanese cruisers and actual, real, live, all-singing, all-dancing, all-features-included, protected-by-the-Emperor torpedo boats begin to move to cross the T of the Russian fleet. Worried about a torpedo attack on his lead battleships and determined to sweep this small formation aside, Rozhestvensky orders his main ships into a line abreast, a far-more-potent display of force that allows every forward-pointing gun on his capital ships to bear at the same time.

2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 12:24 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..., archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(military, nautical) To sail one's battle line across the front of the enemy battle line, allowing one to bring one's full firepower to bear on the enemy battle line while limiting the firepower that the enemy can use in return.


TNW

tactical nuclear weapon
w:tactical nuclear weapon


NSNW

non-strategic nuclear weapon
w:non-strategic nuclear weapon

Initialism of non-strategic nuclear weapon.


EPW

earth-penetrating weapon
w:earth-penetrating weapon


Y-Day

unconditional surrender
unconditional surrender

(historical) 1 March 1946, the planned date for the Allied invasion of the Kantō Plain to conquer Tokyo in World War II (cancelled following Japan's unconditional surrender in September 1945).


Good Luck Flag

A World War II-era Japanese flag on which is written messages of support for servicemen.


February strike

From February + strike, a calque of Dutch Februaristaking.

(historical, politics) A general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II.


rebel yell

en-noun

rebel yell (countable and uncountable, plural rebel yells)

A cry used by Confederate troops in the American Civil War, to intimidate Union troops.


insertion time

insertion time (countable and uncountable, plural insertion times)

(nuclear physics) The length of time which is required to rearrange a subcritical mass of fissile material into a prompt critical mass.


predetonation

predetonation (countable and uncountable, plural predetonations)

When a nuclear bomb fails to produce full yield, due to the chain reaction starting prematurely, before the system is at optimum criticality.


Hitler's buzzsaw

Hitler's buzzsaw (plural Hitler's buzzsaws)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Hitler's buzzsaw.wav

(military, World War II, slang) The MG 42 machine gun.


Rzhev Meat Grinder

(historical, World War II, slang) The Battles of Rzhev.


Sook Ching

Borrowed from Cantonese 肅清／肃清 (suk1 cing1).

(Singapore, historical) the systematic massacre of Singaporean Chinese by Japanese occupation forces from 18 February to 4 March 1942


Desert Fox

Possibly a calque of German Wüstenfuchs, in reference to the terrain in which the North African campaign was fought, and the popular conception of the slyness of the fox. Not clear whether it was coined in British or German media first, as the respective term arose in each language near-simultaneously.

(historical) Erwin Rommel; a German field marshal and tank commander during World War II.


special military operation

special military operation (plural special military operations)

Calque of Russian специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция (speciálʹnaja vojénnaja operácija), a phrase used by Vladimir Putin upon launching an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022:
In this regard, in accordance with Article 51 of Part 7 of the UN Charter, with the approval of the Federation Council of Russia and in pursuance of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance ratified by the Duma on February 22 with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, I decided to launch a special military operation.

cal

специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция

blockquote

By undermining the effectiveness of the sanctions regime being imposed on Russia, China clearly hopes to weaken the compliance mechanism that keeps that order working and under American control. Beijing probably also has an eye on blunting the effectiveness of this particular mechanism so that it can’t be effectively deployed against China in the event that Beijing feels compelled to conduct its own “special military operation” against Taiwan.

2022 March 25, Andrew Latham, “Three reasons why the China-Russia alliance is deepening”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 2022-03-25:

China could be planning its own Russia-style “special military operation” in Taiwan, an island that the Chinese Communist Party insists is Chinese territory, according to reports from China.

2022 June 17, Jack Buckby, “A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Could Unleash an Economic Disaster”, in RealClearDefense, archived from the original on 2022-06-17:

China's "special military operation" will not take place now. Before that happens, China would have to carry out at least one major military maneuver with live fire in exercises that could end up taking place tomorrow according to a few posts ago highlighting the tuning between 2022 and 1995/1996.

2022 August 2, Suetham, “Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis”, in SinoDefenceForum, archived from the original on 2022-09-08:

Medvedev cited these supposed “Western analysts” in order to propagate Russia’s colonial fantasy: envisioning Ukraine’s territory reduced to just the Kyiv region, while the remainder of Ukraine would be divided among Russia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary. Such a narrative recalls Putin’s February 2022 speech questioning Ukraine’s statehood and accompanies intensifying Russian calls to expand its “special military operation” to realize its imperial map.

2022 August 24, “Russia’s War on Ukraine: Six Months of Lies, Implemented”, in United States Department of State, archived from the original on 2022-08-24:

Beijing expresses understanding of reasons that made Russia begin the special military operation for protection of Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Monday.

2022 September 5, “China expresses understanding of reasons behind Russia’s special military operation — aide”, in TASS, archived from the original on 2022-09-05:

When asked if Beijing considers a special military operation against Taiwan possible, Liu Xiaoming said that the Chinese government reserves the right to take all necessary measures to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.

2023 April 27, “CHINESE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE LIU XIAOMING GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO TASS”, in Center for International Security and Strategy Tsinghua University, archived from the original on 2023-05-06:

Repeated clashes between the two warring parties would threaten more Chinese people and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor if they expand, with displaced people fleeing toward the Chinese frontier. If that happens, Beijing could be forced to conduct its own “special military operation” in Myanmar’s territory to reestablish the buffer.

2024 January 10, Emanuele Scimia, “How multiple global challenges may limit Beijing’s options on Taiwan”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-01-10, Opinion:

(euphemistic, neologism) A military situation resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


FECOMZ

Forward Echelon, Communications Zone
w:FECOMZ

(military, historical) Abbreviation of Forward Echelon, Communications Zone.


LLNL

w:Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

(US) Initialism of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.


REL

Russo-European Laika
Russo-European Laika#English


Jellicoe

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John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, a British admiral in the First World War.


Konfrontasi

Unadapted borrowing from Indonesian konfrontasi, from Dutch confrontatie.

unadapted borrowing

Five Power Defence Arrangements
Five Power Defence Arrangements

(Southeast Asia, historical) the armed conflict fought between Indonesia and British-backed Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) from 1963 to 1969 in response to the British allies formation of Federation of Malaysia (conclusion of British Malaya, British Sarawak, British North Borneo, and British Singapore)


prisoner swap

A deal between opposing sides in a conflict, in which each side agrees to release prisoners.


Iraqnam

Remember how the US troops were told that after the “Shock and Awe” knockout blow and the Iraqis welcomed them in with open arms, they would largely all be off home by the 4th July! Well, welcome to IraqNam.

2003 September 20, Paul Shallard, “Feedback: Comment on A sad case of schadenfreude by Andrew Gimson (13/09/2003)”, in The Spectator:

It was one of the worst days of my life, as I had to admit that Vietnam had been a waste. When the Iraq war began, it became evident to me that it was going to be an IRAQNAM—as mismanaged as Vietnam had been or worse.

2006, Jerry Autry, “Preface”, in Gun-Totin' Chaplain: A True Memoir, San Francisco, CA: Airborne Press, →ISBN, page xiii:

Now can we leave IraqNam and Afghanistan? We pissed away billions to support US oil fascism, and ruined our nation's reputation in so-doing. Meanwhile, record numbers of homeless people and families, undernourished children, and failling^([sic]) young people grow, even as we pump up the BS for BC's version of the Olympic Follies.

2008 November, Joseph E Fasciani, “Letters to the editor: Ruined reputation”, in Common Ground, number 208, →ISSN, page 10:

Aided by our Uncle Toms—Brokaw and Hanks—the rich, who had not served in the first quagmire because they had other priorities, grew nostalgic for those so-called greatest generation wars. When attacked in 2001, we were pumped up and ready. We gave ourselves rhetorical goose bumps about freedom goose-stepping. Iraqnam.

2009, Kate Clinton, I Told You So, Boston, MA: Beacon Press, →ISBN, page 58:

(often derogatory) The country of Iraq during the Iraq War (2003–2011) that began with a controversial invasion by a United States-led coalition, seen as analogous to the Vietnam War (1955–1975) which was also marked by American military involvement.


warism

The book opens with an examination of warism, the uncritical presumption that war is morally justified, even morally required.

1991, Patrick G. Coy, Review of From Warism to Pacifism: A Moral Continuum, by D. L. Cady. International Social Science Review, 66(4),, page 185:

He argues that in our own contemporary Western culture, warism is a dominant outlook.

2016, Michaeleen Kelly, "Just War Theory as Ideological and Combatant Role Confusion," International Journal of Peace Studies 21(2):

Belief that war is justifiable in principle and can be justified in actual cases.


hit the button

en-verb

hit the button (third-person singular simple present hits the button, present participle hitting the button, simple past and past participle hit the button)

hits the button (present singular third-person)
hitting the button (participle present)
hit the button (participle past)
hit the button (past)

The sure hit is "This Is Ska, the Skacid Mix"! Exactly what it sounds like, this tune hits the button, rocking all kind of people.

[…] neither the writing nor the plotting really hits the button.

2004, Theatre Record, volume 24, numbers 7-12, page 430:

(informal) To be very satisfying; to hit the spot.


banzai charge

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From banzai + charge. "Banzai" from Japanese 天皇陛下万歳 (Tennō Heika banzai, “long live His Imperial Majesty”), a common battle cry used by Japanese soldiers.

der

(historical, military) A human-wave suicide attack performed by Japanese soldiers during World War II.


General Government

Calque of German Generalgouvernement. Strictly a mistranslation, because German Gouvernement (at least in this context) means governorate, not government.

(historical) an occupation zone established by Nazi Germany in parts of Poland (including areas that are now part of Ukraine)


Eighth Route Army

(historical, military) a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party that fought the Japanese military and its puppet armies in both conventional and guerrilla warfare during the Second Sino-Japanese War.


Fort Sumter

A fort off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. The American Civil War started there on April 12, 1861.


Kitchener bun

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A World War One rebranding exercise of the berliner/Berliner (“jelly donut”) to avoid its association with Berlin, Germany. Named after British General Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener

named-after

(Australia, obsolete, World War I) Synonym of berliner (“filled pastry”)


gun-type

Of a nuclear bomb: using the gun method of assembly (see gun-type bomb)


Confederado

A Confederate expatriate who fled the southern United States for Brazil during Reconstruction; or a descendant of such a person.


nuclear explosion

en-noun

nuclear explosion (plural nuclear explosions)


nuclear terrorism

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supergrade

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Of plutonium: containing a very small portion of isotopes other than plutonium-239 (especially plutonium-240) (less than perhaps 3%), making the plutonium especially suitable for nuclear weapons


nuclear fallout

nuclear fallout (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear fallouts)

In reference to such material falling out of the sky.

(uncountable) Residual radioactive material in the upper atmosphere which settles down to Earth over a protracted period; typically ash which has been propelled upwards by a nuclear explosion or disaster, sometimes mixed with rain or snow.

تَهَاطُل نَوَوِيّ

radioactive material in the atmosphere which settles down to Earth


baka bomb

(military, slang, historical) The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka, a rocket-powered, human-guided kamikaze attack aircraft employed by Japan against Allied ships towards the end of the Pacific War.


zero line

Outside of the main roads and major cities, life in small-town Ukraine rides a razor's edge on the “zero line” where two armies collide.

2023 March 18, “The Forgotten Villages of Ukraine's 'Zero Line'”, in Rolling Stone:

Half an hour's drive from the zero line, an unassuming village house marks an important landmark for those unfortunate enough to need to […]

2023 April 11, “'They crawl forward 24/7:' On the zero line with Ukrainian infantry north of Bakhmut”, in The Kyiv Independent:

The very front of the front line, where opposing armed forces meet and engage in direct combat, especially the border between (US forces in) Afghanistan and Pakistan, or between Ukrainian and Russian forces.


shell hunger

Prior to the war, for instance, Russia's total production of machinery of all kinds met less than 50 percent of the empire's internal demand. [...] The deleterious result was the great "shell hunger" of 1915, the German conquest of Poland, Livonia, and[…]

2000 January 1, J. M. Winter, Geoffrey Parker, Mary Ruth Habeck, Mary R. Habeck, Professor Jay Winter, The Great War and the Twentieth Century, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 39:

The weapon plants of the German Empire succeed in overcoming the shell hunger faster than the others. The photo shows a Russian artillery battery[…]

2021 October 29, Rem Word, Revolutionary. Frame by frame, Litres, →ISBN:

It [the Ukrainian government] also said that Russian forces appeared to have plenty of munitions, deviating from a “shell hunger,” or lack of ammo supplies, preciously reported by the Russian private military group Wagner.

2023 April 18, Olga Voitovych, Ukrainian commander says Russians "unsuccessful" in most areas of frontline, CNN:

A shortage of ammunition, particularly artillery shells.


Maginot Line

Named after French Minister of War André Maginot.

named-after

(historical) A line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany.


drop acid, not bombs

Originally coined in the late 1960s by those who opposed the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.

A hippie anti-war slogan encouraging LSD use.


SADM

Special Atomic Demolition Munition
w:Special Atomic Demolition Munition

Initialism of Special Atomic Demolition Munition.


suitcase nuke

Tactical nuclear weapons, known as “suitcase nukes”, are smaller than strategic ones and can be deployed at short range for battlefield use, though Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus's strongman leader, said this week that the warheads were three times more powerful than the bombs the US dropped on Japan during the second world war.

[2023 June 17, Max Seddon, “Nuclear arms sent to Belarus, says Putin”, in FT Weekend, page 2:


backpack nuke

The Pentagon may have the solution—the Backpack Nuke. Yes, campers, the largest hiking club in the western world—the U.S. Army—is now equipped with small, portable, lightweight nuclear devices that are guaranteed to clear any campground in microseconds.

1985 May, Eric Pearlman, “Things to Come”, in Backpacker, volume 13, number 68, →ISSN, page 104:


Kadyrovite

From Kadyrov + -ite, a calque of Russian кадыровец (kadyrovec), from Кадыров (Kadyrov) + -ец (-ec, “person associated with”).

suffix

"We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president. And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war," Danilov said. "And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president."

2022 March 2, Brigid Kennedy, “Ukraine reportedly foiled a Zelensky assassination plot after a tipoff from Russian authorities”, in The Week:

Most of the Russian servicemen sitting in and atop 34 armed personnel carriers that rolled into Bucha on February 27 were ethnic Chechens, according to Ukrainian military leaders and government officials. Bearded and burly, clad in brand new, perfectly fitting uniforms and toting assault rifles, they hoped to whiz through the leafy suburb northwest of Kyiv to enter the Ukrainian capital on the war’s third day. They are known as “Kadyrovtsy” or “Kadyrovites” after their leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s pro-Kremlin strongman, and their reputation preceded them.

[2022 August 18, Mansur Mirovalev, “The real role of pro-Russian Chechens in Ukraine”, in Al Jazeera:

"The claimed return of Chechen forces to offensive operations would break Kadyrovites from a nearly yearlong hiatus from participating in high-intensity combat operations," the ISW wrote, noting Kadyrov's troops "have been largely operating in the rear after participating in the battles for Mariupol, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk.

2023 June 1, David Brennan, “Why Chechens Can't Replace Wagner in Ukraine”, in Newsweek:

A member of the 141st Special Motorized Regiment, or any other formation subordinate to Ramzan Kadyrov.


captive nation

Almost from the moment the Soviet empire swallowed the captive nations, the fight against it began.

1989 November 21, A[braham] M[ichael] Rosenthal, “ON MY MIND; Helping the Revolution”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-12-19:

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump claimed that "socialism is dying" and described Cuba as a "captive nation." But Cuban officials framed voting yes to the constitution as a matter of patriotism.

2019 February 25, Euan McKirdy, “Cubans overwhelmingly vote in favor of new constitution”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2022-10-12:

When the moment struck in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union started to collapse, nonviolent resistance to Communist rule forced the Soviets out, freeing the captive nations without a shot fired.

2021 June 24, Henry Olsen, “Opinion: The U.S. can’t save Hong Kong. But it must keep the spirit of freedom alive.”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-18:

(US, politics, chiefly historical) A country under the control of a Communist regime (especially the Soviet Union).


Barbenheimer

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Though unions with workers in digital media or with companies that offer online shopping have invoked the idea of a digital picket line, the actors’ and writers’ unions have not called on consumers to stop watching television and movies on streaming services or to cancel their “Barbenheimer” tickets.

2023 July 19, Claire Moses, “Can I Watch ‘Barbenheimer’ Despite the Hollywood Strikes?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-24:

(humorous, neologism) The simultaneous theatrical release on July 21, 2023 of two blockbuster films of contrasting genres: Barbie, a fantasy comedy about the eponymous fashion doll, and Oppenheimer, a biographical thriller about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.


Brylcreem Boy

From the hair-styling product Brylcreem.

Billy Haldane, Ursula's handsome, debonair father, was a 'Brylcreem Boy,' a Royal Air Force officer.

2011, D. B. Reynolds, Loving and Writing, Writing and Loving, page 102:

Why, just the other day, I read about an RAF chap who went from being a Brylcreem Boy to burned beyond recognition. Now he's been wed to the gorgeous daughter of a high commander, Lord Hoity Toity somebody or other, […]

2015, Laurel Deedrick-Mayne, A Wake For The Dreamland, page 118:

(slang, World War II, historical) A member of the Royal Air Force


Peace Democrat

(US politics, historical) Synonym of Copperhead (“a northerner who sympathized with the South or wanted to end hostilities during the American Civil War”)


no-no boy

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This renunciation required answering "no" to the last two questions in a questionnaire.

(US, historical, World War II, slang) A Japanese man who refused to renounce the Japanese emperor and to serve in the United States armed forces.

Internment of Japanese Americans#Loyalty_questions_and_segregation


Battle of the Beams

(historical) A period early in World War II when Luftwaffe bombers used a number of increasingly accurate radionavigation systems for night bombing in Britain, which fought back with a variety of increasingly effective means involving jamming and deception signals.


shooting and crying

Calque of Hebrew יוֹרִים וּבוֹכִים (yorim ve bochim).

cal

יוֹרִים וּבוֹכִים

(derogatory) A genre of war film in which soldiers are depicted showing remorse or grief while simultaneously committing acts of violence, particularly associated with the depictions of the Israel Defense Forces.


dirty war

(historical) A conflict (particularly one in South America) between a dictatorship against leftist revolutionaries or activists, typically characterized by extrajudicial repression like kidnapping, torture and enforced disappearance.

guerre sale

conflict characterized by extrajudicial repression


Doomsday Clock

A symbol in the form of a clock, representing the likelihood of a human-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Its hands are moved backward or forward in response to world events, with midnight representing the onset of catastrophe.


Antietam Creek

A tributary of the Potomac River in south central Pennsylvania and western Maryland in the United States, known as the site of a battle in the American Civil War, the Battle of Antietam.


prisoner exchange

en-noun

prisoner exchange (plural prisoner exchanges)


Beria

Borrowed from Russian Берия (Berija), ultimately from Mingrelian ბერია (beria).

A surname from Mingrelian; especially when referring to Lavrentiy Beria, NKVD chief under Stalin's administration and one of the main architect of the Great Purge.


Yezhov

A surname from Russian; especially when referring to Nikolai Yezhov, NKVD chief under Stalin's administration and one of the main architect of the Great Purge.


bunk lizard

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(US, military slang, World War I– World War II) A soldier who relishes his bed.


canteen lizard

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(US military slang, World War I) A soldier who relishes eating out or working in kitchens in the rear.


zigzig

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(US military slang, World War I– World War II) Sexual intercourse.


war baby

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(US military slang, World War I) An officer owing his position to the need of the time rather than competence.


trench derby

(military slang, World War I) A tin hat.


tin dip

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tin lid

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tin lid.wav


nailkeg

(World War I military slang) A shrapnel shell.


mud-hogs

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(World War I miltary slang) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:


line shooting

Authentic RAF line shooting of that time was a form of jocular boasting which nobody was expected to believe[.]

1978, Hugh Verity, We landed by moonlight, Manchester: Crécy Publishing, →ISBN, page 131:

(World War II, RAF, slang) Exaggerated or boastful stories; showing off.


OVRA

Borrowed from Italian OVRA with unknown full form. Speculated by some as initialism of Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism).

initialism

(history) The secret police of Fascist Italy active from 1927 to 1945.


nuclear deterrence

(geopolitics) The discouraging of nuclear attack through the threat of nuclear retaliation.


Spanish-American War

United States of America
United States of America

(historical) A military conflict in the year 1898, fought between the United States of America and Spain


Mexican-American War

(historical) A military conflict in the years 1846 to 1848, fought between the United States of America and Mexico


Mexican War

Mexican-American War
Mexican-American War#English

Alternative form of Mexican-American War


Wars of the Roses

the Wars of the Roses (canonical plural)

After the symbols of the two sides: the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York

(historical) A civil war that lasted from 1455 to 1487, fought between the English houses of Lancaster and York and allies in France, Burgundy and Scotland.


Confederate flag

en-noun

Confederate flag (plural Confederate flags)

The Stars and Bars, the official Confederate flag.


Western Bloc

Coordinate term: Eastern Bloc

(geopolitics, historical) The noncommunist nations of Europe and America.


hell from above

From hell + from + above. Possibly first inspired from a bombardment of arrows, similar archery or artillery.

(idiomatic) A powerful bombardment of projectiles from above, especially in the context of war.


Andersonville

Andersonville Prison, a POW camp in Georgia, during the American Civil War.


Antietam

The Battle of Antietam, in the American Civil War, on Sept. 17, 1862.


Southern Unionist

Southern Unionist (plural Southern Unionists)

In the American Civil War, a (presumably White) Southerner who favored preserving the Union.

Andrew Johnson
President of the United States


thermonuclear war

thermonuclear war (countable and uncountable, plural thermonuclear wars)

A nuclear war, assuming at least some of the bombs are thermonuclear.


Battle of Okinawa

(historical, World War II) A major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army in 1945.


human wave

human wave tactics

human wave assault

The generals relied on costly human waves to make tiny conquests that they could sell to politicians and the population.

A frontal assault by unprotected densely concentrated infantry against the enemy line.


war of religion

war of religion (plural wars of religion)

A war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs.


Omaha Beach

Likely coined in 1944 by American general Omar Bradley.

Eventually, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in the early hours of 6 June 1944 - a day recorded in the history books as D-Day. Taken by surprise, the Germans were overwhelmed. But although the first phase of the operation passed off without major Allied losses, the Omaha Beach landings soon turned into a disaster. Despite leadership errors and fewer men, the German army displayed unexpected combative spirit. Logistics were also hampered by the poor weather conditions and the arrival of reinforcements was delayed. Despite their material and numerical superiority, the Allies suffered heavy losses and it took them more than two months to break through the German defense.

2024 May 27, “D-Day and the Tremendous Cost of Victory”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2024-06-08, History:

An amphibious invasion zone in coastal Normandy during the D-Day invasions.


Utah Beach

The farthest west of the five D-Day beaches, Utah Beach was quickly conquered by American soldiers who then pushed inland to the central square of Ste.-Marie-du-Mont, where American paratroopers — dropped in the night by plane — were already battling German soldiers.

2023 June 6, Catherine Porter, “D-Day’s Historic Beaches Face a New Onslaught: Rising Seas”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-06:

The westernmost amphibious invasion zone in coastal Normandy during the D-Day invasions.


Grand Alliance

(World War II) A military alliance consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.


Dirty War

(historical) The period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as a part of Operation Condor.


nuclear umbrella

nuclear umbrella (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear umbrellas)

A guarantee by a nuclear weapons state to defend a non-nuclear allied state.


Van Dorn battle flag

Van Dorn battle flag (plural Van Dorn battle flags)

Named after American major general Earl Van Dorn (1820–1863).

named-after

The Van Dorn battle flag had a red field adorned with thirteen white stars arranged in five rows, with a white crescent in the upper corner. The flags were bordered in yellow or white.

1989 January 1, Devereaux D. Cannon, The Flags of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History, St. Lukes Broadfoot Publishers, →ISBN, page 63:

The Van Dorn battle flag, as it came to be called, was a red rectangle bordered in yellow on three sides. Thirteen stars were scattered across the field, and in the upper left was a white crescent symbolizing Missouri.

2001 December 10, Robert Maberry Jr., Texas Flags, Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 91:

The flag of the 4th Missouri Infantry, which may be one of the earliest examples of a Van Dorn battle flag.

2018 January 17, Sarah Laskow, “The Museum That Keeps Now-Obscure Confederate Flags”, in Atlas Obscura, archived from the original on 2023-09-25:

(rare) A flag utilized by the regiments under the command of the Confederate major general Earl Van Dorn during the American Civil War.

15th (Northwest) Arkansas Infantry Regiment

4th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Confederate)


nuclear button

Imagine, now, this irrepressible figure [Boris Johnson] transposed to the Group of 8 summit chamber, or with his finger on the nuclear button, or in the Downing Street equivalent of the White House Situation Room, deciding whether or not to send British troops to war.

2014 September 1, Matthew d’Ancona, “Boris Johnson’s Blond Ambition”, in New York Times:

Reportedly, as Yeltsin accepted the need for bypass surgery he at first considered delegating responsibility for security to Premier Chernomyrdin, but retaining the nuclear button.

2019, Dietrich Schroeer, Alessandro Pascolini, The Weapons Legacy of the Cold War, page 77:

So, we decided to write this book, a history of the nuclear button, based on the insights of the people most experienced with this dangerous remnant from the Cold War.

2020, William J. Perry, Tom Z. Collina, The Button:

The means (not likely an actual button) of quickly and easily launching nuclear warheads.


Yom Kippur War

So named because the war broke out on Yom Kippur in 1973.

The fourth war fought in Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights between Israel and an Arabic coalition of states led by Egypt and Syria in October 1973.


Bull Run

A river in Oregon, United States, a tributary of the Sandy.

A stream in Virginia, United States, a tributary of the Occoquan.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States

Prince William County
Prince William County#English

A census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia, United States


March to the Sea

A campaign of the American Civil War in 1864, during which armies under William Tecumseh Sherman laid waste to the state of Georgia between the cities of Atlanta and Savannah.


Juno Beach

Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County#English

A town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States.


Sword Beach

The easternmost amphibious invasion zone in coastal Normandy during the D-Day invasions.


Army of Northern Virginia

the Army of Northern Virginia (canonical)

(now historical) The main Confederate army in the Eastern Theater in the American Civil War; it was headed by Robert E. Lee during most of its existence.


Eastern Theater

(now historical) In the American Civil War, the eastern area of operations; roughly speaking, in and near Virginia.

Eastern theater of the American Civil War


ANV

Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia#English

Initialism of Army of Northern Virginia.


Western Theater

(now historical) In the American Civil War, the western area of operations. The biggest battle fought in this region was Chickamauga.

Western theater of the American Civil War


Kirby Smithdom

From Kirby Smith + -dom, after Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith.

(now historical) In the American Civil War, the Trans-Mississippi Department, consisting, roughly, of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.


Wilderness

Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County#English

An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Orange County, Virginia, United States.


garrison state

(politics, geopolitics) A nation where military matters dominate its political and economic life, and where the military is the primary domestic influence.


U.S. Civil War

American Civil War
American Civil War#English


plutonium pit

The core (pit) of a nuclear bomb, made of plutonium.