INDEX:
1. a weapon
2. having weapons
3. having no weapons
4. to get weapons or provide someone with weapons
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ ARMY
↑ SHOOT
↑ KILL
↑ DESTROY
↑ HURT/INJURE
↑ EXPLODE
↑ ATTACK
↑ DEFEND
◆◆◆
1. a weapon
▷ weapon /ˈwepən/ [countable noun]
something that you use to fight with, such as a gun, bomb, or knife :
▪ The men were finally persuaded to come out and hand over their weapons to the police.
carry a weapon
▪ The three men had blackened faces and were carrying weapons.
murder weapon
a weapon used to kill someone
▪ Police have not yet found the murder weapon.
an offensive weapon
one that can be used to attack someone
▪ He was arrested by police and charged with carrying an offensive weapon.
nuclear/chemical/conventional weapons
atom bombs, poisonous gases, or ordinary weapons
▪ a treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons
▷ arms /ɑːʳmz/ [plural noun]
weapons such as guns and bombs that are used for fighting against large numbers of people :
▪ European governments have been supplying arms to the rebels.
carry arms
▪ Only certain members of the police force are allowed to carry arms.
lay down your arms
stop using arms
▪ The government has called on the terrorists to lay down their arms.
arms control
agreements between countries to limit the number of weapons they have
▪ The two countries have just signed a new agreement on arms control.
▷ ammunition /ˌæmjɑˈnɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
bullets and other things that are fired from large or small guns :
▪ The soldiers kept on firing until they had no more ammunition.
▪ The terrorist group is believed to have significant quantities of guns, ammunition, and explosives.
round of ammunition
a single bullet
▪ We now knew that we were trapped, with only a few rounds of ammunition left.
▷ weaponry /ˈwepənri/ [uncountable noun]
weapons used for fighting wars - use this especially when talking about how effective, modern etc they are :
▪ It is a highly-trained army, with very sophisticated modern weaponry.
nuclear/conventional weaponry
▪ Many of the world’s poorer countries are now beginning to invest in nuclear weaponry.
▷ arsenal /ˈɑːʳs ə nəl/ [countable noun]
all of the weapons and military equipment that a country or fighting force has :
▪ Their arsenal includes both SAM 7 missiles and anti-tank weapons.
arsenal of
▪ Police have discovered an arsenal of guns and ammunition in a London house.
2. having weapons
▷ armed /ɑːʳmd/ [adjective]
someone who is armed is carrying a gun or other weapon :
▪ The two men may be armed, and should not be approached by members of the public.
▪ Over £60,000 worth of jewellery has been stolen by an armed gang in north London.
armed with
▪ The men were masked and armed with machine guns.
heavily armed
with lots of weapons
▪ a group of heavily armed soldiers
3. having no weapons
▷ unarmed /ˌʌnˈɑːʳmd◂/ [adjective]
someone who is unarmed is not carrying a gun or other weapon :
▪ It was later discovered that the hijacker was unarmed.
unarmed civilians
▪ The army allegedly shot dead over 300 unarmed civilians.
▷ defenceless British /defenseless American /dɪˈfensləs/ [adjective]
a person, place, ship etc that is defenceless has no weapons and cannot defend itself against an attack :
▪ In the first weeks of the war, dozens of defenceless ships were sunk by submarines.
▪ The stick splintered under the blow and Alex was left defenseless.
4. to get weapons or provide someone with weapons
▷ arm /ɑːʳm/ [transitive verb]
to provide someone with weapons :
▪ The rebels were trained, armed, and financed by foreign governments.
▪ The majority of people still do not believe we should arm our police force.
:
arm yourself with something
▪ We armed ourselves with whatever we could find - sticks, knives, bricks.
▷ rearm /riːˈɑːʳm/ [intransitive verb]
if a country rearms, it gets new or better supplies of weapons in order to prepare for fighting a war, especially after a period of peace :
▪ They remain opposed to any suggestion that the country should be allowed to rearm.