Meaning & use
weaponize
To adapt something not originally designed as a weapon so that it can be used to cause harm or gain advantage.
See it in a sentence
Engineers worried that the new drone technology could be weaponized by hostile groups.
Critics accused the politician of weaponizing the economic crisis to attack his opponents.
A note on using this word
Increasingly used figuratively beyond military contexts, as in weaponizing information, data, or language.
Words with a similar meaning
militarize
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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