rearm

[ ree-ahrm ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to arm again.

  2. to furnish with new or better weapons: As soon as the new rifle was in production, the troops were rearmed.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become armed again.

Origin of rearm

1
First recorded in 1870–75; re- + arm2

Other words from rearm

  • re·ar·ma·ment [ree-ahr-muh-muhnt], /riˈɑr mə mənt/, noun

Words Nearby rearm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rearm in a sentence

  • But without significant diplomatic follow-up, it will likely last only as long as it takes Hamas to rearm.

    Will the Ceasefire Last? | Matthew Levitt | November 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • So why not “try to give them the tools to rearm to be reemployed?”

  • He'll drop fifty planet bombs out of your peaceful skies and collect your vassal worlds before they can rearm.

    Victory | Lester del Rey
  • This fort the Admiral, in those days of waiting, had taken the precaution secretly to garrison and rearm.

    Captain Blood | Rafael Sabatini
  • "And now the Kerak Worlds want to rearm and try again," Leoh said.

    The Dueling Machine | Benjamin William Bova
  • If they won the armistice, they'd be able to retrench and rearm, and the war would break out again within a few years.

    In Case of Fire | Gordon Randall Garrett
  • He has acquired complete dictatorship of the Kerak Worlds, and is now attempting to rearm them for war.

    The Dueling Machine | Benjamin William Bova

British Dictionary definitions for rearm

rearm

/ (riːˈɑːm) /


verb
  1. to arm again

  2. (tr) to equip (an army, a nation, etc) with better weapons

Derived forms of rearm

  • rearmament, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012