Wehrmacht

[vair-mahkht; German veyr-mahkht]

noun

the German armed forces of the years prior to and during World War II.

Origin of Wehrmacht

< German, equivalent to Wehr defense + Macht force

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wehrmacht

Contemporary Examples of wehrmacht

The same could not be said for the 100,000 Wehrmacht troops killed, wounded, or captured.
Hitler’s Hail Mary
James A. Warren
December 20, 2014
The other was the much-decorated Wehrmacht officer Major Josef ‘Sepp’ Gangl, who died helping the Americans protect the VIPs.
World War II’s Strangest Battle: When Americans and Germans Fought Together
Andrew Roberts
May 12, 2013
The Wehrmacht had already lost the war against the Soviet Union by December 7, 1941, and the German high command knew it.
Rethink Everything You Think You Know About World War II
David Frum
February 10, 2013

Historical Examples of wehrmacht

A lot of Rivers's, and everybody else's who's been fooling with it around here, and half the Wehrmacht.
Murder in the Gunroom
Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

noun

the armed services of the German Third Reich from 1935 to 1945

Word Origin for Wehrmacht

from Wehr defence + Macht force

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

"the armed forces of Germany," 1935, from German Wehrmacht (name of the armed forces 1921-1945), from Wehr "defense" (see weir) + Macht "might" (see might (n.)).