Lawfare
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate. informal, uncountable
"[…] Watch […] proceeded to the door, which he tried, and there discovered that that official had not only taken his parole d'honneur [word of honour; promise], but had adopted the additional security of turning the key; and knowing that circumstance had vacated the pre-existent treaty between them, by all the rules of civilised nations, whether in lawfare or warfare, he proceeded at once to the window; whereform, the ostler having brought him, by pre-arrangement, a ladder, he descended in safety to the yard; […]"
Example
More examples"[…] Watch […] proceeded to the door, which he tried, and there discovered that that official had not only taken his parole d'honneur [word of honour; promise], but had adopted the additional security of turning the key; and knowing that circumstance had vacated the pre-existent treaty between them, by all the rules of civilised nations, whether in lawfare or warfare, he proceeded at once to the window; whereform, the ostler having brought him, by pre-arrangement, a ladder, he descended in safety to the yard; […]"
Etymology
Blend of law + warfare.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.