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

This makes A.I. detection inherently an arms race, so the performance of any given detector will likely fluctuate over time.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

The whole experience underscores a harsh reality in today’s airline arms race for big-spending travelers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

In 2020, the algorithm arms race intensified when Reels was launched as part of Instagram, in response to TikTok taking the world by storm during the Covid pandemic.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

That’s changing amid the AI arms race, with hundreds of billions of dollars diverted into building data centers.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

He had planned to lay out his step-by-step strategy for preventing an arms race, backing each step with clearly reasoned arguments.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin