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weapon

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wehpuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɛpən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting

    “He was licensed to carry a weapon.”

  2. An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords.

  3. An instrument or other means of harming or exerting control over another.

  4. informalhumorous

    A tool of any kind.

  5. Australiaslang

    A very skilled, competent, or capable person or thing worthy of awe.

verb

  1. transitive

    To equip with a weapon; to arm.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting

Used this way, weapon is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“He was licensed to carry a weapon.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use weapon

  • “He was licensed to carry a weapon.”noun
  • “He used all his conversational weapons.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Instrument

weapon systemdangerous weapon

Skilled

effective weapon

Human

murder weapon

Other combinations

secret weaponnew weaponpowerful weaponpolitical weapon

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • weapon systemnounCompound term

    Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting.

  • weapons carriernounCompound term

    Military vehicle that is a light truck designed to carry mortars or machine guns and their crews.

  • weapons emplacementnounCompound term

    An emplacement for a gun.

  • weapons-grade plutoniumnounCompound term

    Plutonium 239 that is recovered when nuclear weapons are disassembled.

  • weapons platformnounCompound term

    Any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons.

  • weapons plutoniumnounCompound term

    Plutonium 239 that is recovered when nuclear weapons are disassembled.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • weaponrynounRelated term

    Weapons considered collectively.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to equip with a weapon

arm

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.