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:
He pleaded guilty to possession of the firearms and ammunition but had denied the conspiracy charge.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Production of long-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, will take place at Rheinmetall’s Unterluess facility in Germany, one of its largest sites that makes weapon systems and ammunition and tracked vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
"We have a lot of ammunition," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Exact ammunition expenditures and remaining stockpiles remain classified.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Beneath the peninsular fort of La Cite, across the river from the old city, there are rooms of bandages, rooms of ammunition, even an underground hospital, or so it is believed.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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
Italy and the Czech Republic are among the European countries sending Indian ammunitions to Ukraine, it added.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024
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
In the Campelle Valley the Austrians evacuated the positions they still held on the Prima Lunetta, abandoning arms, ammunitions and supplies.
From The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 8) Battle of Jutland Bank; Russian Offensive; Kut-El-Amara; East Africa; Verdun; The Great Somme Drive; United States and Belligerents; Summary of Two Years' War by Churchill, Allen L. (Allen Leon)
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.
