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

Treaties that curtailed the Cold War arms race were only possible because new technologies, like satellites and seismometers, allowed each side to verify the other’s compliance. — Billy Perrigo, Time, 17 Aug. 2026

There’s an ongoing arms race to protect identities and privacy in the age of facial recognition, biometric scanning and data collection. — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2026

Still, Apple has largely avoided the AI infrastructure spending arms race, instead leaning on its partnership with Alphabet's Gemini to improve its AI offerings. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2026

Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly has pushed back on suggestions that the agreement represents the creation of a new sectarian or military bloc, saying it is not connected to nuclear ambitions or an arms race. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 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