Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To divest of a weapon or weapons.
- intransitive verb To deprive of the means of attack or defense; render harmless.
- intransitive verb To overcome or allay the suspicion, hostility, or antagonism of.
- intransitive verb To win the confidence of.
- intransitive verb To lay down arms.
- intransitive verb To reduce or abolish armed forces.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To press (the lips of a horse) outward so that they may not be bruised on the toothless portions, or bars, of the lower jaw.
- To deprive of arms; take the arms or weapons from; take off the armor from: as, he disarmed his foe; the prince gave orders to disarm his subjects: with of before the thing taken away: as, to
disarm one of his weapons. - Specifically To reduce to a peace footing, as an army or a navy.
- To deprive of means of attack or defense; render harmless or defenseless: as, to
disarm a venomous serpent. - To deprive of force, strength, means of injuring, or power to terrify; quell: as, to
disarm rage or passion; religion disarms death of its terrors. - To lay down arms; specifically, to reduce armaments to a peace footing; dismiss or disband troops: as, the nations were then disarming.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless.
- transitive verb To deprive of the means or the disposition to harm; to render harmless or innocuous.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
deprive ofarms ; to take away theweapons of; to deprive of the means ofattack ordefense ; to renderdefenseless . - verb transitive To deprive of the means or the disposition to
harm ; to renderharmless orinnocuous ; as, to disarm a man's wrath. - verb intransitive To lay down arms; to
stand down . - verb intransitive To reduce one's own
military forces .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make less hostile; win over
- verb remove offensive capability from
- verb take away the weapons from; render harmless
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word disarm.
Examples
-
The idea of all the nations in the world getting together and agreeing to disarm is a fairy tale (a nice fairy tale, but nowhere near reality).
Think Progress » Washington Times Misfires on Missile Defense 2006
-
The idea of all the nations in the world getting together and agreeing to disarm is a fairy tale (a nice fairy tale, but nowhere near reality).
Think Progress » Washington Times Misfires on Missile Defense 2006
-
I met the person I would disarm him, without realising what a bitter pun the word disarm was.
-
Could Pain disarm, and Death's last pang beguile —!
On the Death of Lieutenant-Colonel Buller, Killed in Flanders in 1795 1796
-
Fighter swings first, takes off one hobgob’s arm; that’s what I call a disarm attempt!
D&D 4e’s Out… And It’s Awful. Here’s Why « Geek Related 2008
-
Although details are still being finalized on how exactly the program will work, each militant who agrees to disarm is to receive an allowance of around $135 a month plus $100 or so a month for food.
-
There are Security Council resolutions that have been approved that took note and took note of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and called on all militias in southern Lebanon to disarm, which is something Hezbollah has certainly -- has not done.
-
At the end of the day, I think the president of the United States has decided that the only way for getting Saddam Hussein to disarm is to disarm him with force.
-
Well, if you reject the logic of ultimatums, you're telling Iraq you have forever to disarm, which is contradicted by 1441 which said you must immediately disarm, which raises questions about France's commitment to 1441.
-
Iraq is supposed to be disarming, and they have not established, to my satisfaction anyway, and I think to the satisfaction of the international community, that they are moving in good faith to disarm, which is what they're supposed to do under the resolution.
seanahan commented on the word disarm
disarm you with a smile, and cut you like you want me to
January 1, 2007