arms race

noun

: a race between hostile nations to accumulate or develop weapons

broadly : an ever escalating race or competition

Examples of arms race in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While its megacap rivals are currently engaged in a relentless, capital-intensive arms race to outspend one another on infrastructure, Apple's relatively low capex stands out as a testament to its disciplined capital allocation. — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026

Florida State’s administration was painfully slow to recognize that college football had become a billionaire’s auction house, where NIL money and the transfer portal had turned roster building into an arms race. — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2026

Arizona’s industrial economy is the product of two world wars — and TSMC’s investment in the state is part of a trade war with China, a 21st-century arms race where the end goal is not a nuclear bomb but something critics say is akin to it. — Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 29 Oct. 2026

In fact, part of the problem may be that Anthropic continues to treat this as a classic arms race. — Sigal Samuel, Vox, 27 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for arms race

• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace
• blackface
• boldface
• bookcase
• braincase
• briefcase
• carcase