arms industry
3
3.7
- noun
- /ɑrmz ˈɪndəstri/
:
industria armamentista
- The arms industry plays a crucial role in a country's defense capabilities.
- domestic arms industry
- large arms industry
- build an arms industry
Examples
-
Third, the new government appears to be of two minds about the arms industry.
Academic text (1995) -
The market within the WTO has disappeared, and without subsidies, the arms industry is unlikely to be competitive on world markets.
Academic text (1991) -
The influence of the domestic arms industry does not stop at the U.S. border.
Blog text (29) -
The arms industry is attractive to the new government because it does a number of things for the economy.
Academic text (1995) -
Several nations in the Middle East, particularly Israel, have developed significant indigenous arms industries.
Academic text (1991) -
Moreover, the world arms trade is becoming more diffuse as a growing number of countries build up their arms industries.
Academic text (1990) -
The arms industry is widely believed to be the main repository of South Africa's high technology skills and infrastructure.
Academic text (1995) -
Since the change of government, there has been some criticism of military spending and the arms industry from within the Cabinet and from the ANC's traditional allies.
Academic text (1995) -
On the other hand, some members of the ANC urged cuts in military spending and the restructuring of the arms industry through economic conversion.
Academic text (1995) -
Most significantly, the UN arms embargo forced South Africa to develop a domestic arms industry if it wanted to maintain its regional wars and hold on to Namibia.
Academic text (1995)
Synonyms
A business that makes weapons and other equipment for the military
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the business sector producing and selling weapons' is directly compositional from 'arms' (weapons) + 'industry' (organizations producing goods/services). This noun-noun compound follows a common and cross-linguistically familiar pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Arms industry comes from the words arms and industry, where arms meant weapons you hold and industry meant the business of making things. That picture of workers and factories making swords, guns, and other weapons helps explain why the phrase means 'the business that makes and sells weapons'.