[f. WAR v.1 + -ING2.]
1. That makes or carries on war; that contends in warfare. (Now chiefly with plural subject and the implication ‘mutually.’)
1702. Rowe, Tamerl., II. i. Half the warring World upon thy Side.
1706. Prior, Ode to Queen, xxiii. Hence … Herbert’s and Churchill’s Warring Progeny.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. lxiii. Such is the absorbing hate when warring nations meet!
1849. G. P. R. James, Woodman, i. The human vulture, which follows on the track of warring armies to feed upon the spoils of the dead.
1874. Green, Short Hist., vi. § 3. 295. The two warring lines were united by his [Henry VII.] marriage with Elizabeth.
1907. Times, 22 May, 9/4. In India … our sword … stands between peace and the chaos of warring races.
2. fig. Engaged in strife, contending; esp. with plural subject, mutually contending, discordant.
a. of the elements.
1608. Shaks., Lear, IV. vii. 32 (Qtos.). Was this a face To be exposd against the warring [Fol. iarring] winds.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 432. Oft have I seen a sudden Storm arise, From all the warring Winds that sweep the Skies. Ibid. (1697), Æneis, I. 753. When Winds, and ev’ry warring Element, Disturb’d our Course.
1725. Pope, Odyss., VI. 206. Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll’d, resign’d To roaring billows, and the warring wind.
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., x. (1879), 217. How delightful was that still night, after having been so long involved in the din of the warring elements!
1912. L. Tracy, Mirabel’s Isl., i. (1915), 10. Ages of warring tides had thrust a deep-water passage … through the opposing barrier.
b. of passions, etc.
1703. Rowe, Fair Penit., II. i. The warring Passions, and tumultuous Thoughts.
1706. Prior, Ode to Queen, vii. Betwixt Despair, and Rage, and Hope, and Pain, Something within his warring Bosom roll’d.
1791. Burns, ‘Ae fond kiss,’ 4. Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee!
c. of persons, parties, etc.
1883. Whitelaw, Sophocles, Oedipus King, 634. What means this senseless din of warring tongues?
1908. Times Lit. Suppl., 10 Sept., 290/1. It … would inevitably have offended one or other of the warring schools into which their flocks are divided.
