Definition of "cold war"

cold war

/ˌkəʊld ˈwɔː/

noun
uncountable
1. A period of hostile relations between rivals where direct open warfare between them is largely undesired and avoided.
  Quotations
  James Burnham's theory has been much discussed, but few people have yet considered its ideological implications—that is, the kind of world-view, the kind of beliefs, and the social structure that would probably prevail in a state which was at once unconquerable and in a permanent state of “cold war” with its neighbours.
  1945, George Orwell, "You and the Atom Bomb", Tribune, 19 October 1945; reprinted in Orwell, Sonia Orwell, and Ian Angus, George Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, Volume 4: In Front of Your Nose (1946–1950), David R. Godine (2000), ISBN page 9
  World War III started on VJ Day as a cold war. It began to warm up when the Russians blockaded Berlin and nearly reached the exploding point in Korea.
  1951, Daniel V. Gallery, Clear the Decks, 19 October 1945, page 100
  It's just an old war / Not even a cold war
  1979, “Broken English”, performed by Marianne Faithfull
  The world economy is on the brink of a second cold war that could “annihilate” progress made since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a senior International Monetary Fund official has warned.
  2023 December 11, Richard Partington, “World economy on brink of ‘cold war two’, IMF official warns”, in The Guardian‎