ammunition
Americannoun
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the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon, as bombs or rockets, and especially shot, shrapnel, bullets, or shells fired by guns.
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the means of igniting or exploding such material, as primers, fuzes, and gunpowder.
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any material, means, weapons, etc., used in any conflict.
a crude ammunition of stones.
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information, advice, or supplies to help defend or attack a viewpoint, argument, or claim.
Give me some ammunition for the debate.
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Obsolete. any military supplies.
noun
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any projectiles, such as bullets, rockets, etc, that can be discharged from a weapon
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bombs, missiles, chemicals, biological agents, nuclear materials, etc, capable of use as weapons
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any means of defence or attack, as in an argument
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ammunition
1620–30; < Middle French amonitions, amunitions (plural) military supplies ( a- a- 5 + munition < Latin; see munition), or < French la munition, wrongly analyzed as l'amunition
Explanation
Soldiers carry their ammunition: the bullets and shells needed for their guns. The word ammunition is used to describe the supply of shells or bullets used for a gun, as well as nuclear, chemical or biological matter that can be used in much larger weapons. But we also use it for metaphorical attack material. If you're trying to prove that your big brother is a jerk, your neighbor's story about how he kicked her dog is ammunition for your argument.
Vocabulary lists containing ammunition
Words from "The Avengers"
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Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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World War I
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The U.S. in 1978 had 32 government-owned ammunition plants, according to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Administration officials tell the press that the strongest military in the world is running out of ammunition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Exact ammunition expenditures and remaining stockpiles remain classified.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
But is the US really eating through ammunition so fast that it may struggle to fulfil its military duties and objectives?
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The gun rack, set between two of the eight windows, held a Remington shotgun, a Colt AR-15 assault rifle, a tear-gas gun, and many rounds of ammunition.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
He was found guilty of high treason under martial law and the illegal handling of weapons, ammunitions or explosives by the Shevchenkivskyy District Court in Kyiv.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The weapons and ammunitions segment posted a 38% jump in third-quarter sales to 691 million euros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
They also captured the Yarmouk ammunitions factory in June, seized areas east of the strategic Halfaya Bridge and recently took over the south Khartoum and Omdurman Central Reserve Police bases, according to residents and analysts.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
"Companies are making money out of the fact that ammunitions are not interchangeable, that they can dominate their national markets with their munitions."
From Reuters ● Jun. 13, 2023
The supplies, artillery, and ammunitions had all been loaded without any consideration as to which was to come off the boats first.
From The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of 8) History of the European War from Official Sources by Reynolds, Francis J. (Francis Joseph)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
