Ordnance
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Military equipment, especially weapons and ammunition. countable, uncountable
"When the Turkes took Constantinople, they melted the Bells into Ordnance; I have heard both Bells and Ordnance, but never been so much affected with those, as with these Bells."
- 2 large but transportable armament wordnet
- 3 Artillery. countable, uncountable
"From the belfries far and near the funereal deathbell tolled unceasingly while all around the gloomy precincts rolled the ominous warning of a hundred muffled drums punctuated by the hollow booming of pieces of ordnance."
- 4 military supplies wordnet
Example
More examples"Unexploded ordnance is found every year in Europe."
Etymology
A reduced form of ordinance, which is attested from the late 14th century in the sense of "military equipment or provisions". The sense of "artillery" arises in the early 15th century, the sense "military logistics" in the late 15th century. The shortened form ordnance arises by the 17th century, now often distinguished in writing from the other meanings of ordinance. Also doublet of ordonnance.
Related phrases
More for "ordnance"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.