arms race

American  

noun

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

---

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)

---

Etymology

Origin of arms race

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

For example, the Pope condemned the use of AI in warfare, saying that reducing human control of weaponry makes it even harder to consider a war "just" and warned against launching an AI arms race.

From BBC • May 25, 2026

The team believes giant prey animals may have triggered an "evolutionary arms race" in which predators evolved stronger jaws and skulls to overpower increasingly massive herbivores.

From Science Daily • May 20, 2026

Then, they’ll cover Trump’s visit to China and what it could mean for the US-China power balance, particularly within the AI arms race.

From Slate • May 16, 2026

That means Nebius and CoreWeave are in an arms race of their own.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

This conclusion added to public alarm not merely about test fallout but also about the global arms race generally.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik