rearm

/'ri:'ɑ:m/

Thân thiện

The treaty forbids the defeated nation to rearm its military.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To arm again; to provide with new or additional weapons: The primary meaning refers to the act of supplying a military force, country, or group with weapons again, either after being disarmed or to upgrade existing armaments.
   • To equip with modern weapons; to modernize military forces: This sense emphasizes the process of upgrading or replacing old weapons with newer, more advanced ones.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • The treaty prohibited the nation from attempting to rearm for a period of fifty years.
  • The general argued that to maintain security, the army must rearm with the latest technology.
  • Following the disarmament agreement, any move to rearm would be seen as an act of aggression.

Advanced Usage

• "To rearm oneself": This reflexive form emphasizes the action taken by a group or entity for its own benefit.
  • The militia used the ceasefire period to secretly rearm themselves.
• Used in geopolitical and historical contexts to discuss post-conflict periods, arms races, or military modernization programs.

Variants and Related Words

• Rearmament (n): The process or act of rearming.
  • The country's rapid rearmament alarmed its neighbors.
• Disarm (v): The opposite action; to take weapons away from.
• Arm (v): To supply with weapons in the first instance.

Synonyms

• Re-equip: To provide with new equipment, often in a military context.
• Re-supply (with weapons): To provide a fresh stock of arms.
• Modernize (militarily): To update and improve military capabilities.

Phrasal Verbs

• Rearm with: Specifies the type of weapons or technology being acquired.
  • The navy planned to rearm with nuclear-powered submarines.

Related Idioms

• An arms race: While not containing the word "rearm," this idiom describes the competitive context in which nations continuously rearm to surpass each other's military power.
  • The development of new missile systems fueled a new arms race.

Học thuật

Verb

1. arm anew
   • After the war, the defeated country was not allowed to rearm
2. arm again
   • After the war, the defeated country was not rearmed by the victors

Từ đồng nghĩa

• re-arm