war of nerves
Noun
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Noun
war of nerves
- (idiomatic) Warfare or other physical conflict in which one or more combatting parties use especially demoralizing and frightening tactics to attempt to unnerve their opponents.
- 1915, Liman von Sanders Pasha, Field Marshal of Turkish forces at Gallipoli, quoted in "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306202423/http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A0CE5DD1138E633A2575AC0A96E9C946496D6CF Says Turks Will Soon Expel British]," New York Times, 9 Aug., p. 2 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- "Our brave Ottoman soldiers are not easily frightened by noise, owing to their splendid nerves—and this is a war of nerves, a war in which strong nerves mean victory."
- 1939, Sir John Anderson quoted in "[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=0xU1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=6qULAAAAIBAJ&pg=1732,1776438&dq=war-of-nerves&hl=en Women's Service if War Comes]," Glasgow Herald, 11 May (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- "In the future, war will not merely be one of men and machines, it will be a war of wills and a war of nerves."
- 1915, Liman von Sanders Pasha, Field Marshal of Turkish forces at Gallipoli, quoted in "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306202423/http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A0CE5DD1138E633A2575AC0A96E9C946496D6CF Says Turks Will Soon Expel British]," New York Times, 9 Aug., p. 2 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- (idiomatic, by extension) A situation in which opposed parties refrain from direct conflict but maintain a tense, contentious relationship in which each uses annoyances or intimidating psychological tactics to attempt to dishearten and unnerve the other.
- 1966, "[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=SxwQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bIsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6002,6105923&dq=war-of-nerves+-communist+-soviet+-russia&hl=en Steel Industry Appears To Be Victor in Battle of Prices]," The Free Lance-Star (USA), 5 Aug. p. 1 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- A united steel industry appeared to have emerged the victor today in a war of nerves to raise prices on some of its products in the face of White House pressure to hold the price line.
- 1983, "[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=oFEfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PdIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2624,1474173&dq=war-of-nerves+-communist+-soviet+-russia&hl=en Small Town Host Big Time Chess Tourney]," Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 18 July, p. 8A (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- 14 of America's best chess players are wielding kings, queens and their chessboard servants in a silent but brutal war. . . . "It's a mental war, it's a war of nerves, of logic, or reasoning, of being a good fighter," said Walter Browne.
- 2009, Oleg Shchedrov, "Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear ↗," Reuters India, 27 May (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- "We assume that a dangerous brinkmanship, a war of nerves, is under way, but it will not grow into a hot war," the official told Tass.
- 1966, "[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=SxwQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bIsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6002,6105923&dq=war-of-nerves+-communist+-soviet+-russia&hl=en Steel Industry Appears To Be Victor in Battle of Prices]," The Free Lance-Star (USA), 5 Aug. p. 1 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2010):
- French: guerre psychologique, guerre des nerfs
- German: Nervenkrieg
- Spanish: guerra psicológica
- French: guerre des nerfs
- German: Nervenkrieg
- Spanish: guerra psicológica
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003