militarization

American  

[mil-i-tuh-rahyz-ay-shuhn, -ruhz-ay-shuhn] / ˌmɪl ɪ təˌraɪzˈeɪ ʃən, -rəzˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of equipping with military personnel, weapons, or resources.

2. the act or process of making something serve a military function or of imbuing it with militarism.

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Example Sentences

“The accumulation of them is what’s problematic and clearly what’s led MSF to say when you look at them as a whole, we are having here a militarization of parts of this hospital,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

Estefania Vela, a human rights lawyer at a think tank called Intersecta, worries militarization is near-sighted.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2025

And what we see now, and see the beginnings of in “Power,” is how that militarization has grown and evolved over the last 50 or 60 years.

From Salon • May 18, 2024

U.S. military officials have warned that both Russia and China are moving toward greater militarization of space, as all three superpowers work on ways to blind the others.

From New York Times • Feb. 15, 2024

The defense minister, General Magnus Malan, backed by P. W. Botha, introduced a policy known as “total on-slaught,” which was a militarization of the country to combat the liberation struggle.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela