strife vs war

strife

noun
  • A trouble of any kind. 

  • Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work. 

  • Bitter conflict, sometimes violent. 

  • Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means. 

war

noun
  • A particular conflict of this kind. 

  • Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually but not always involving active engagement of military forces. 

  • A prolonged conflict between two groups of organized criminals, usually over organizational or territorial control. 

  • Any of a family of card games where all cards are dealt at the beginning of play and players attempt to capture them all, typically involving no skill and only serving to kill time. 

  • An argument between two or more people with opposing opinions on a topic or issue. 

  • Protracted armed conflict against irregular forces, particularly groups considered terrorists. 

  • A protracted instance of fierce competition in trade. 

  • Campaigns against various social problems. 

verb
  • To carry on, as a contest; to wage. 

  • To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe). 

How often have the words strife and war occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )