noun
Common
arsenal
AH-suh-nuhl
Arsenal (noun) means a place where weapons and ammunition are made, stored, or repaired. Example: “Workers at the arsenal spent the week repairing rifles and checking stored ammunition.”
noun
1
A place where weapons and ammunition are made, stored, or repaired.
"Workers at the arsenal spent the week repairing rifles and checking stored ammunition."
"The museum stands on the site of a former royal arsenal beside the river."
"The old naval arsenal is now a museum."
2
The full stock of weapons a country, group, or person has available.
"The small country has built up a modest arsenal over the last few decades."
"Inspectors were asked to report on the size of the rebel group's arsenal."
"The nation's nuclear arsenal remains a major point of tension."
3
A wide range of tools, skills, or resources ready to be used.
"The goalkeeper has a whole arsenal of tricks to put strikers off."
"A good teacher keeps an arsenal of games ready for noisy afternoons."
"Her arsenal of arguments left him with nothing to say."
How to use arsenal
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA store of weapons — or, more broadly, any impressive collection of tools or tactics ready for use.
Common pairings
nuclear arsenal
weapons arsenal
arsenal of tricks
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Word forms
- Plural
- arsenals
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Workers at the _____ spent the week repairing rifles and checking stored ammunition.
Etymology
From Italian arsenale, tracing back to Arabic dar as-sina'a, "house of manufacture" — originally a naval dockyard.
Related words
Rhymes for arsenal
See all rhymes for arsenal →Frequently asked questions
What does “arsenal” mean?
The word “arsenal” means a place where weapons and ammunition are made, stored, or repaired. In plain terms, a store of weapons — or, more broadly, any impressive collection of tools or tactics ready for use.
How do you pronounce “arsenal”?
“Arsenal” is pronounced AH-suh-nuhl (/ˈɑɹsənəl/ in IPA).
How do you use “arsenal” in a sentence?
Here is “arsenal” used in a sentence: “The old naval arsenal is now a museum.”
What part of speech is “arsenal”?
“Arsenal” is a noun.
Where does the word “arsenal” come from?
The word “arsenal” comes from Italian. From Italian arsenale, tracing back to Arabic dar as-sina'a, "house of manufacture" — originally a naval dockyard.
Is “arsenal” a common word?
“Arsenal” is a fairly common word in modern English.
How many meanings does “arsenal” have?
“Arsenal” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a place where weapons and ammunition are made, stored, or repaired.
What is the difference between an arsenal and an armory?
An arsenal is a place where weapons and ammunition are made, stored, or repaired, and the word also means the full stock of weapons a group has. An armory overlaps heavily but tends to refer specifically to a storage building for arms, while arsenal can additionally imply production and the overall collection.
Can arsenal be used figuratively?
Yes. Because arsenal can mean the full range of resources a person or group has available, it is often used figuratively, as in an arsenal of arguments or an arsenal of skills. In this sense it simply means a large and varied supply of useful tools.
What is the difference between an arsenal and a stockpile?
An arsenal specifically concerns weapons and ammunition, and can also name the facility where they are kept. A stockpile is a large reserve of almost anything gathered for future use, so every arsenal is a kind of stockpile, but not every stockpile is an arsenal.
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