ammunition

[am-yuh-nish-uhn]

noun

1. the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon, as bombs or rockets, and especially shot, shrapnel, bullets, or shells fired by guns.

2. the means of igniting or exploding such material, as primers, fuzes, and gunpowder.

3. any material, means, weapons, etc., used in any conflict.

   a crude ammunition of stones.

4. information, advice, or supplies to help defend or attack a viewpoint, argument, or claim.

   Give me some ammunition for the debate.

5. Obsolete.,  any military supplies.

ammunition

/ ˌæmjʊˈnɪʃən /

noun

1. any projectiles, such as bullets, rockets, etc, that can be discharged from a weapon

2. bombs, missiles, chemicals, biological agents, nuclear materials, etc, capable of use as weapons

3. any means of defence or attack, as in an argument

Word History and Origins

Origin of ammunition¹

1620–30; < Middle French amonitions, amunitions (plural) military supplies ( a- a- ⁵ + munition < Latin; munition ), or < French la munition, wrongly analyzed as l'amunition

Word History and Origins

Origin of ammunition¹

C17: from obsolete French amunition, by mistaken division from earlier la munition; see _munition

Example Sentences

The more information that gets back to your stepdaughter’s estranged husband, the more contentious the divorce will become and the more ammunition he will have during those legal proceedings.

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Companies such as German ammunition maker Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo have seen their share price more than double since the start of the year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Eyewitnesses describe security officers opening fire on protesters with live ammunition.

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County sheriff’s deputies turned up 30,000 rounds of ammunition, several grenades, a sawed-off shotgun and modified credentials to make it appear that Young was still an active DEA agent.

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The peso-dollar rate stabilized on Friday, and the $20 billion in Treasury currency support is intended to show speculators that Argentina has plenty of ammunition to stop another run.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ammo 
• armament 
• bomb 
• bullet 
• cartridge 
• chemical 
• explosive 
• gunpowder 
• materiel 
• missile 
• munition 
• napalm 
• rocket 
• shrapnel 
• torpedo