War of the Roses
2
7.5
- proper noun
- Set in 15th-century England during the historical dynastic war between rival houses Lancaster and York—dubbed the War of the Roses—players will pick a side and lay waste to their enemies on the battlefield.
Examples
-
Coming off their successful showings at GDC, PAX East, and E3, Paradox has some big aspirations for War of the Roses.
Blog text (11) -
Interactive and developer Fatshark's upcoming title, War of the Roses, has made quite a name for itself with its ambitious take on medieval-style combat in large-scale skirmishes.
Blog text (11) -
We know of the War of the Roses.
Fiction book (1998) -
The War of the Roses is centuries away.
Fiction book (1998) -
Veterans of Mount & Blade will feel right at home with War of the Roses' setting and focus on medieval-style combat.
Blog text (11) -
War of the Roses is very open to how players choose to customize their characters, and even the more unorthodox combinations seem to have an effect on battle.
Blog text (11) -
However, while that game focused on the role-playing elements and the sandbox gameplay of traveling the country and battling different factions, War of the Roses reins it in a bit and keeps the focus on different skirmishes and major battles between the two rival factions.
Blog text (11) -
The Wars of the Roses were marked by a series of battles between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne.
-
Many famous figures emerged during the War of the Roses, including King Henry VI and Richard III.
-
The conflict known as the War of the Roses ultimately changed the course of British history with the rise of the Tudor dynasty.
Synonyms
1
8.8
A series of civil wars in England between the York and Lancaster families for the throne
Surface Forms
Morphology
war + of + the + Roses
The noun phrase 'War of the Roses' is compositionally built from 'war' + 'of' + 'the' + 'Roses', so a B1 learner who knows the words will understand it denotes a war associated with 'the Roses' (i.e., a named historical conflict). However, the specific historical details—the dynastic civil wars in England, the parties involved, and the symbolic reason for the name—cannot be derived from the constituents alone, so the meaning is only partially predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
War of the Roses gets its name from a simple picture: two royal houses in England wore different rose badges, Lancaster a red rose and York a white rose, and they fought for the 'throne'. So today the phrase refers to the long series of wars from 1455 to 1485 when these families battled to control the English crown and led to the rise of the Tudor dynasty.