AMMUNITION

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ammunition mean? 

• AMMUNITION (noun)
  The noun AMMUNITION has 3 senses:

1. projectiles to be fired from a gun

2. any nuclear or chemical or biological material that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction

3. information that can be used to attack or defend a claim or argument or viewpoint

  Familiarity information: AMMUNITION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMMUNITION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Projectiles to be fired from a gun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

ammo; ammunition

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

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

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

belt; belt ammunition; belted ammunition (ammunition (usually of small caliber) loaded in flexible linked strips for use in a machine gun)

cartridge (ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun)

canister; canister shot; case shot (a metallic cylinder packed with shot and used as ammunition in a firearm)

powder and shot (ammunition consisting of gunpowder and bullets for muskets)

one shot; round; unit of ammunition (a charge of ammunition for a single shot)

shell (ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun)

tracer; tracer bullet (ammunition whose flight can be observed by a trail of smoke)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any nuclear or chemical or biological material that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Information that can be used to attack or defend a claim or argument or viewpoint

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

his admission provided ammunition for his critics

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

info; information (a message received and understood)

 Context examples 

“That he has not left the service long is shown by his still wearing his ammunition boots, as they are called,” observed Mycroft.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And in this cache would be ammunition for his empty gun, fish-hooks and lines, a small net—all the utilities for the killing and snaring of food.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It is unfortunate we haven’t plenty of ammunition, but I think, anyway, that they suffer less from being clubbed than from being all shot up.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

One man, with plenty of ammunition, could have held it against a hundred thousand.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Store ammunition away from guns and keep it locked.

(Gun Safety, NIH)

Then we distributed the various burdens among us—guns, ammunition, food, a tent, blankets, and the rest—and, shouldering our packages, we set forth upon the more laborious stage of our journey.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Henry, it's a blame misfortune to be out of ammunition.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

There was a round score of muskets for the seven of us; the firewood had been built into four piles—tables, you might say—one about the middle of each side, and on each of these tables some ammunition and four loaded muskets were laid ready to the hand of the defenders.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

So, on this great journey into the East, straight meat was the bill of fare, ammunition and tools principally made up the load on the sled, and the time-card was drawn upon the limitless future.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But he had guns, plenty of ammunition, and those Kanakas, trained to the shooting of wild cattle and wild pig, were dead shots.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)