Meaning & use
ammunition
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Meanings
noununcountable
Bullets, shells, and other objects that are fired from weapons.
Grammar: Uncountable: no plural; use 'a piece of ammunition' or 'rounds of ammunition' for countable items.
Patterns
- ammunition for something
- a supply of ammunition
- run out of ammunition
The soldiers were running low on ammunition after hours of fighting.
Police found a large amount of ammunition hidden in the basement.
This rifle uses a special type of ammunition.
noununcountablefigurative
Facts, information, or arguments that can be used to support a cause or attack an opponent.
Grammar: Uncountable; often followed by 'for' or 'against'.
Patterns
- ammunition for someone
- ammunition against someone
- give someone ammunition
The report gave the opposition plenty of ammunition for their campaign.
His careless remarks provided ammunition to his critics.
She gathered ammunition to use in the debate.
Common combinations
- live ammunition
- The training exercise used live ammunition, not blanks.
- ammunition depot
- The ammunition depot was heavily guarded.
- provide ammunition
- The scandal provided ammunition for the newspaper's attacks.
- ammunition against
- They collected ammunition against the proposed law.
Synonyms and how they differ
- munitions
- Munitions refers to military weapons and equipment as well as ammunition, so it is broader.
- rounds
- Rounds are individual bullets or shells, countable, while ammunition is the general uncountable term.
Word family
- ammo noun
- Informal short form for ammunition.
Commonly confused: ammunition or armament?
ammunition vs armament
Armament means military weapons and equipment, not the bullets themselves.
Practice
The rebels were running out of ____ and had to surrender.
Choose one answer.
'Ammunition' is uncountable, so it has no plural and takes no article in this context. 'Ammunitions' and 'an ammunition' are wrong because the noun is uncountable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ammunition”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.