arms race

American  

noun

1. competition between countries to achieve superiority in quantity and quality of military arms.

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arms race British  

noun

1. the continuing competitive attempt by two or more nations each to have available to it more and more powerful weapons than the other(s)

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Etymology

Origin of arms race

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

The arms race is showing no signs of slowing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

So far, that impact has been largely based on the many billions that big tech companies, including Meta, are spending in the AI arms race.

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

"It's always shifting and changing," he said, adding there is a "fraud arms race".

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

America initially tried avoiding a Middle East arms race and didn’t sell weapons to Israel during its 1948 War of Independence or for its 1956 Sinai campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

It turned out that the year before there had been some sort of stationery arms race among the kids, with each trying to have the most unique pens and paper.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer