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:
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
On that subject, he dismissed concerns that US ammunition stockpiles were running low nearly five months after war broke out.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
To fire big ammunition, militaries need explosive chemicals derived from natural fibers that suddenly are in short supply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
America is on a global shopping spree outside China to secure critical minerals for jet fighters, tanks and cutting-edge ammunition, while European countries are hunting the same things to counter the threat of Russian aggression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Three men dragged an ammunition cart through the mob of bodies, hissing to waken the sleeping.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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
Stockpiling targets for ammunitions are, for security reasons, one of the alliance's best-kept secrets.
From Reuters ● Jun. 14, 2023
With the assistance of strong reenforcements the Russians were able to check the advance here and make 2,200 prisoners, besides capturing ammunitions and machine guns.
From The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12) Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes 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.
