arsenal

American  

[ahr-suh-nl, ahrs-nuhl] / ˈɑr sə nl, ˈɑrs nəl /

noun

1. a place of storage or a magazine containing arms and military equipment for land or naval service.

2. a government establishment where military equipment or munitions are manufactured.

3. a collection or supply of weapons or munitions.

4. a collection or supply of anything; store.

   He came to the meeting with an impressive arsenal of new research data.

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arsenal British  

/ ˈɑːsənəl /

noun

1. a store for arms, ammunition, and other military items

2. a workshop or factory that produces munitions

3. a store of anything regarded as weapons

   an arsenal of destructive arguments

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Etymology

Origin of arsenal

1500–10; (< Middle French ) < Italian arzanale < Upper Italian ( Venetian ) arzanà dockyard < Arabic dār ṣināʿah workshop (literally, house of handwork); initial d probably taken as a form of the preposition di from

Explanation

An arsenal is a storehouse for weapons. It wouldn't be wise to let your enemies get a hold of the keys to your arsenal. Not just a place to store weapons, an arsenal can be a place to make weapons or it can mean the collection of weapons themselves: "The air force had just added two top-secret fighter planes to its arsenal." In a more general sense, the word can be a collection of anything used as a weapon, not just military weapons: "She had a whole arsenal of witty comebacks for the lame pickup-lines guys tried out on her."

Example Sentences

It’s a theft from America’s arsenal of compute.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

To see her teammates Jordan Woolery keep flaunting her flashy slash line and Taylor Tinsley sharpening her wicked arsenal of pitches.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

Speaking for the first time about the issue on Monday evening, President William Ruto defended the plan saying that Kenya had "deployed every arsenal" to protect the country.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

"Think about it. There is a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers," Koizumi said at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

From Barron's • May 31, 2026

I had so much—an education, a healthy sense of self, a deep arsenal of ambition—and I was wise enough to credit my mother, in particular, with instilling it in me.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama