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Meaning & use

rearming

verb, noun·Academicmilitary

Last updated

UK/ˌriːˈɑːmɪŋ/
US/ˌriˈɑːrmɪŋ/

“rearming” is a form of “rearm”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.

Meanings

  1. verbtransitive or intransitivemilitary

    Supplying a country, group or soldier with weapons again, or building up military strength once more.

    Grammar: Can take an object (rearming the army) or stand alone (the country is rearming).

    Patterns

    • rearming something
    • rearming for something

    The country is rearming after years of cuts to defence spending.

    Troops spent the night rearming their vehicles before the next mission.

    Neighbouring states accused the government of secretly rearming.

  2. noununcountablemilitary

    The process of supplying or building weapons again.

    Grammar: Used without an or an: the rearming of the navy.

    Patterns

    • the rearming of something

    Critics opposed the rearming of the border guards.

    The rearming took several months and cost billions.

    Public support for rearming grew after the crisis.

Word forms

base formrearm
third person singularrearms
past tenserearmed
-ing formrearming

Common combinations

rearming quickly
The fighters were rearming quickly between flights.
rearming the army
Rearming the army will take years.
rearming for war
Rumours spread that the region was rearming for war.
secretly rearming
The state was accused of secretly rearming.
rearming programme
A rearming programme was announced last week.

Synonyms and how they differ

re-equipping
Re-equipping covers any gear, while rearming concerns weapons.
remilitarizing
Remilitarizing means restoring armed forces in an area, which is broader than just supplying weapons.
rebuilding
Rebuilding is general and does not tell you weapons are involved.
restocking
Restocking is neutral and applies to any supplies.

Opposites

disarmingdemilitarizing

Word family

rearm verb
to arm again
rearmament noun
the process of arming again
arm verb
to supply with weapons
disarm verb
to remove weapons

Commonly confused: rearming or rearranging?

rearming vs rearranging

Rearranging means changing the order or layout of things, not supplying weapons.

Practice

Which word best completes the sentence? After the war, the government spent years ___ its armed forces.

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