noun
ordnance
ORD-nuns/ˈɔːrdnəns/
Military weapons and their associated supplies and equipment.
The cannon and ammunition crates display military ordnance in the museum yard.
Etymology
The idea of putting things in order developed into arranging troops for battle and supplying military equipment. This military-provisions sense became specialized in weapons, ammunition, and related stores.
In context
will the United States join that war, because it's the only country that has the capability to drop the massive bunker- buster ordnance penetrators that can get to the underground nuclear facilities?
More examples
- Specialists safely remove unexploded ordnance from the former battlefield.
- The ship carries enough ordnance for a long deployment.
- Crews inspect the ordnance before loading it onto trucks.
Similar words
- armaments
- Emphasizes military weapons rather than their associated supplies and equipment.
- ammunition
- Means bullets, shells, and other expendable charges, not weapons themselves.
- artillery
- Refers specifically to large guns rather than military equipment generally.