WEAPON

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting

Example:

he was licensed to carry a weapon

Synonyms:

arm; weapon; weapon system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("weapon" is a kind of...):

instrument (a device that requires skill for proper use)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "weapon"):

Greek fire (a mixture used by Byzantine Greeks that was often shot at adversaries; catches fire when wetted)

W.M.D.; weapon of mass destruction; WMD (a weapon that kills or injures civilian as well as military personnel (nuclear and chemical and biological weapons))

hatchet; tomahawk (weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American Indians)

blade; brand; steel; sword (a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard)

stun baton; stun gun (a weapon designed to disable a victim temporarily by delivering a nonlethal high-voltage electric shock)

lance; shaft; spear (a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon)

sling (a simple weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a projectile is whirled and then released)

slasher (a weapon (a sword or dagger) used for slashing)

missile; projectile (a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled)

pike (medieval weapon consisting of a spearhead attached to a long pole or pikestaff; superseded by the bayonet)

missile (a rocket carrying a warhead of conventional or nuclear explosives; may be ballistic or directed by remote control)

light arm (a rifle or pistol)

knife (a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point)

gun (a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel))

flamethrower (a weapon that squirts ignited fuel for several yards)

fire ship (a weapon consisting of a ship carrying explosives that is set adrift to destroy enemy ships)

brass knuckles; brass knucks; knuckle duster; knuckles; knucks ((used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand)

bow and arrow (a weapon consisting of arrows and the bow to shoot them)

bow (a weapon for shooting arrows, composed of a curved piece of resilient wood with a taut cord to propel the arrow)

Holonyms ("weapon" is a part of...):

arms; implements of war; munition; weaponry; weapons system (weapons considered collectively)

Derivation:

weaponize (make into or use as a weapon or a potential weapon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A means of persuading or arguing

Example:

he used all his conversational weapons

Synonyms:

artillery; weapon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("weapon" is a kind of...):

persuasion; suasion (the act of persuading (or attempting to persuade); communication intended to induce belief or action)

Credits

Context examples:

My first care was to provide myself with a weapon.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons?

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The potency of botulinum toxin has also caused concern that it could be used as a biological weapon, creating interest in the identification of inhibitors of this toxin.

(Botulin Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

These particulars struck me, I confess, disagreeably; and as I followed him into the bright light of the consulting room, I kept my hand ready on my weapon.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Only a few days old, the young honeyguide uses these built-in weapons to kill its foster siblings as soon as they hatch, says Spottiswoode.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As soon as he could raise his axe another wolf came up, and he also fell under the sharp edge of the Tin Woodman's weapon.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The Houyhnhnms indeed appear not to be so well prepared for war, a science to which they are perfect strangers, and especially against missive weapons.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“YOU love him? You?” she cried, with her clenched hand, quivering as if it only wanted a weapon to stab the object of her wrath.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He prizes me as a soldier would a good weapon; and that is all.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But the weapon remained poised in mid-air, for Martin found himself back in the ironing room in the midst of a snow-storm.