Phrase guide

arms race

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A competition for military supremacy between two powers, especially for the most weapons and the best military technology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any similar competition that involves competing developments.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: race

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: wapenwedloop — a competition for military supremacy
  • Arabic: سِبَاق تَسَلُّح (sibāq tasalluḥ) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Armenian: սպառազինությունների մրցավազք (spaṙazinutʻyunneri mrcʻavazkʻ) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Asturian: carrera armamentista — a competition for military supremacy
  • Azerbaijani: silahlanma yarışı — a competition for military supremacy
  • Basque: armamentu lehia — a competition for military supremacy
  • Belarusian: го́нка ўзбрае́нняў (hónka wzbrajénnjaw) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Bulgarian: надпрева́ра във въоръжа́ването (nadprevára vǎv vǎorǎžávaneto) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Bulgarian: надпрева́рване във въоръжа́ването (nadprevárvane vǎv vǎorǎžávaneto) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Catalan: cursa armamentista — a competition for military supremacy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 軍備競賽 /军备竞赛 (jūnbèi jìngsài) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Czech: závody ve zbrojení — a competition for military supremacy
  • Dutch: wapenwedloop — a competition for military supremacy
  • Esperanto: vetarmado — a competition for military supremacy
  • Esperanto: armadkonkuro — a competition for military supremacy
  • Estonian: võidurelvastumine — a competition for military supremacy
  • Faroese: kappdubbing — a competition for military supremacy
  • Finnish: kilpavarustelu — a competition for military supremacy
  • French: course aux armements — a competition for military supremacy
  • Georgian: გამალებული შეიარაღება (gamalebuli šeiaraɣeba) — a competition for military supremacy
  • German: Wettrüsten — a competition for military supremacy
  • German: Rüstungswettlauf — a competition for military supremacy
  • Greek: ανταγωνισμός εξοπλισμών (antagonismós exoplismón) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Hebrew: מירוץ חימוש — a competition for military supremacy
  • Hindi: हथियारों की दौड़ (hathiyārõ kī dauṛ) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Hungarian: fegyverkezési verseny — a competition for military supremacy
  • Icelandic: vígbúnaðarkapphlaup — a competition for military supremacy
  • Indonesian: perlombaan senjata — a competition for military supremacy
  • Italian: corsa agli armamenti — a competition for military supremacy
  • Italian: corsa al riarmo — a competition for military supremacy
  • Japanese: 軍備拡張競争 (gunbi kakuchō kyōsō) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Japanese: 軍拡競争 (gunkaku kyōsō) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Kazakh: қарулану жарысы (qarulanu jarysy) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Korean: 군비 경쟁 (gunbi gyeongjaeng) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Kyrgyz: жарыша куралдануу (jarışa kuraldanuu) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Latvian: bruņošanās sacensības — a competition for military supremacy
  • Lithuanian: ginklavimosi varžybos — a competition for military supremacy
  • Macedonian: трка во вооружување (trka vo vooružuvanje) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Malay: perlumbaan senjata — a competition for military supremacy
  • Norwegian Bokmål: våpenkappløp — a competition for military supremacy
  • Persian: مُسابِقِهٔ تَسْلیحاتی (mosâbeqe-ye taslihâti) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Polish: wyścig zbrojeń — a competition for military supremacy
  • Portuguese: corrida armamentista — a competition for military supremacy
  • Portuguese: corrida armamentícia — a competition for military supremacy
  • Romanian: cursa înarmărilor — a competition for military supremacy
  • Russian: го́нка вооруже́ний (gónka vooružénij) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Slovak: preteky v zbrojení — a competition for military supremacy
  • Spanish: carrera de armamentos — a competition for military supremacy
  • Spanish: carrera armamentista — a competition for military supremacy
  • Swedish: kapprustning — a competition for military supremacy
  • Tajik: мусаллаҳшавии бошитоб (musallahšavi-yi bošitob) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Tajik: мусобиқаи таслиҳотӣ (musobiqa-yi taslihoti) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Thai: การแข่งขันในทางอาวุธ — a competition for military supremacy
  • Turkish: silahlanma yarışı — a competition for military supremacy
  • Ukrainian: перего́ни озбро́єнь (perehóny ozbrójenʹ) — a competition for military supremacy
  • Uzbek: qurollanish poygasi — a competition for military supremacy
  • Vietnamese: chạy đua vũ trang — a competition for military supremacy
  • Welsh: ras arfau — a competition for military supremacy