ordnance

noun

ord·nance | \ ˈȯrd-nən(t)s

Definition of ordnance

1a : military supplies including weapons, ammunition, combat vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment bombers dropped heavy concentrations of ordnance on every targeted airfield— Ron Dick

b : a service of the army charged with the procuring, distributing, and safekeeping of ordnance

2 : cannon, artillery Several pieces of ordnance bombarded the entrenched enemy.

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about ordnance

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Examples of ordnance in a Sentence

The company was outfitted with 50-millimeter ordnance. the army is waiting for the heavy ordnance to be brought in

Recent Examples on the Web

The use of an orange band confirms to the U.S. and NATO standard of marking training ordnance with orange. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Vietnamese Fisherman Drags a Chinese Torpedo Back to Shore," 19 Dec. 2018 Three men in a small inflatable boat approached the ordnance floating in calm waters at about 4:50 p.m., according to live stream from TV stations. — Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times, "Unexploded ‘device’ floating near Brownsville Marina – described as a mine – detonated by Navy," 28 Aug. 2018 And in addition to homemade bombs, members have also begun discussing trying to find unexploded World War II ordnance to make improvised explosive devices. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "22 predictions for social media in 2019," 15 Dec. 2018 Today, long since retired from deep sea diving and disposing of dangerous ordnance, Steiner has a life that’s about construction, not destruction. — Josh Snider, Popular Mechanics, "The Everything Workshop," 4 Dec. 2018 The now-56-year-old retired Navy explosive-ordnance-disposal technician served in the Bosnian War and later founded a military contracting firm. — Jim Rendon, Marie Claire, "When Female Veterans Return Home," 29 Oct. 2018 Initially, explosives were strapped to the drone, thus creating flying IEDs for one-time-use, but later the group learned how to reuse drones by dropping grenades or other ordnances. — Ulrike Franke, The Verge, "The Caracas drone attack won’t be the last of its kind," 17 Aug. 2018 The driver, who was not publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene as explosive-ordnance crews and Fairfield emergency officials responded. — Alex Johnson /, NBC News, "Vehicle explodes at entrance to California Air Force base, killing driver," 22 Mar. 2018 University Heights residents were asked to shelter in place while a bomb squad investigated possible military ordnance discovered by a construction crew Tuesday morning. — Lyndsay Winkley, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Residents shelter in place after construction crew finds possible military ordnance," 22 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ordnance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.