Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to re-arm

to re-arm

2 6.0
To give weapons to a country or its army again
  • verb
  • /riˈɑrm/
  • UK
: rearmar
  • After the peace treaty, the government decided to re-arm its military forces to boost national security.

Examples

  • The organization was concerned that disarmament would lead to an immediate need to re-arm if tensions escalated.

  • At the same time though, Japan, according to a Bloomberg piece, is re arming their own country at a dramatic scale.

  • In response to increasing threats, the country plans to re-arm its defense capabilities over the next few years.

Synonyms

to rearm
vsto re-arm
7 6.8

To give weapons again to a group or country

is the older hyphenated spelling with identical meaning
to remilitarize
vsto re-arm
  • Formal
1 9.4

To put soldiers and weapons back into a country or area

is about equipping again with weapons, not limited to rebuilding a nation's forces
to reequip
vsto re-arm
1 4.9

To give new equipment after old equipment is lost or broken

is specifically about giving weapons or military equipment rather than any equipment

Antonyms

to disarm
152 3.9

To take weapons from a person or group so they cannot use them

How Armed

to remilitarize
  • Formal
1 9.4
to re-arm
  • UK
2 6.0
to arm
152 3.7

Surface Forms

re-arm infinitive
re-armed past
re-armed past participle
re-arming present participle
re-arms third person singular

Morphology

re-arm = arm (transparent) = re + arm

This is standard prefixation of 're-' onto 'arm', and the meaning 'arm again' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Re-arm has the part re- meaning 'again' and the part arm meaning 'to give weapons', as in army. So to re-arm is to give weapons or equipment again to a person or force after they were disarmed.