assault weapon

noun

: any of various automatic or semiautomatic firearms

especially : assault rifle

Examples of assault weapon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Durkin clashed with Pritzker over taxes and criminal justice issues but worked with him on a budget and capital construction plan during the governor’s first year and voted for his 2023 assault weapon ban. — Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2026

Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004, but Democrats have supported renewing it in response to mass shootings. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026

Assault weapons and crime Opponents of assault weapons restrictions are correct in pointing out that such weapons are rarely used in crimes committed with guns. — Robert Spitzer, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026

Gomez said that masked ICE agents were armed with assault weapons. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above