Armada

American  

[ahr-mah-duh, -mey-] / ɑrˈmɑ də, -ˈmeɪ- /

noun

1. Also called Invincible Armada.  Also called Spanish Armada.  the fleet sent against England by Philip II of Spain in 1588. It was defeated by the English navy and later dispersed and wrecked by storms.

2. (lowercase) any fleet of warships.

3. (lowercase) a large group or force of vehicles, airplanes, etc..

   an armada of transport trucks.

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Armada ¹ British  

/ ɑːˈmɑːdə /

noun

1. See Spanish Armada

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armada ² British  

/ ɑːˈmɑːdə /

noun

1. a large number of ships or aircraft

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Etymology

Origin of Armada

1525–35; < Spanish < Latin armāta armed forces, neuter plural of armātus (past participle of armāre to equip with arms). See arm ², -ate ¹

Example Sentences

The US assembled a massive armada and achieved its goal without losing a single American life.

From BBC

Meanwhile, the U.S. aircraft carrier and its supporting armada, which had mobilized off Venezuela’s shore before the operation, remain deployed, and on high alert.

From Slate

After fighting for four years and sacrificing 400,000 lives during World War II, Washington captured vital bastions at both ends of the vast Eurasian land mass and spent the next 40 years of the Cold War ensuring its control of that strategic continent with circles of steel — military alliances like NATO, hundreds of overseas military bases, powerful naval fleets and a massive armada of nuclear-armed aircraft and missiles.

From Salon

It prefers companies benefiting from a stronger ringgit as well as exposure to data centers and energy–naming Malayan Banking, Tenaga Nasional and Bumi Armada as among its top picks.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we’ve ever had, and by far the biggest we’ve ever said in South America,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• fleet
• flotilla
• squadron