arsenal

American  

[ahr-suh-nl, ahrs-nuhl] / ˈɑr sə nl, ˈɑrs nəl /

noun

arsenals plural

1. a place of storage or a magazine containing arms and military equipment for land or naval service.

2. a government establishment where military equipment or munitions are manufactured.

3. a collection or supply of weapons or munitions.

4. a collection or supply of anything; store.

   He came to the meeting with an impressive arsenal of new research data.

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arsenal British  

/ ˈɑːsənəl /

noun

1. a store for arms, ammunition, and other military items

2. a workshop or factory that produces munitions

3. a store of anything regarded as weapons

   an arsenal of destructive arguments

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arsenals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arsenal

1500–10; (< Middle French ) < Italian arzanale < Upper Italian ( Venetian ) arzanà dockyard < Arabic dār ṣināʿah workshop (literally, house of handwork); initial d probably taken as a form of the preposition di from

Explanation

An arsenal is a storehouse for weapons. It wouldn't be wise to let your enemies get a hold of the keys to your arsenal. Not just a place to store weapons, an arsenal can be a place to make weapons or it can mean the collection of weapons themselves: "The air force had just added two top-secret fighter planes to its arsenal." In a more general sense, the word can be a collection of anything used as a weapon, not just military weapons: "She had a whole arsenal of witty comebacks for the lame pickup-lines guys tried out on her."

Example Sentences

A ban like this gives parents another much-needed weapon in the arsenal against screen time: No, you can’t have TikTok, because the government said it’s not allowed.

From Slate • Jun. 18, 2026

Authorities rely on an electronic arsenal of radio frequency scanners, radars, and listening and optical devices and jammers, as well as their own set of drones, to track down drone operators below.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026

Finally, there is the issue of Hezbollah's arsenal.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026

You don’t even necessarily need new treaties, just agreements on notifications, and agreements to continue to abide by arsenal limits that were in previous arms control agreements.

From Salon • Jun. 15, 2026

But they are unprepared, and Beetee, apparently anticipating he would not hold on to control, has an arsenal of five- to ten-second clips to work with.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins