ammunition

American  

[am-yuh-nish-uhn] / ˌæm yəˈnɪʃ ən /

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.

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ammunition British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of ammunition

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

Example Sentences

The company has recently built four factories and is rushing to construct more than a dozen more to churn out everything from ammunition to drones and armored vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Guard’s posture then shifted to “Green Status,” meaning they carried unloaded weapons but had ammunition with them.

From The Wall Street Journal

It “has plenty of ammunition in the form of FX reserves if it feels the need to intervene further,” the economist said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Still, ammunition supplies were choked for weeks and some of the cargo had to be reloaded back onto ships.

From The Wall Street Journal

With plans to expand into air, naval and space from its traditional foothold in land defense and ammunition, Rheinmetall is looking to hire more and faster.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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