SINCE 1828
weaponize
verb
weap·on·ize
| \ ˈwe-pə-ˌnīz
\
\
weaponized;
weaponizing
Definition of weaponize
: to adapt for use as a weapon of war
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Other Words from weaponize
weaponization
\ ˌwe-pə-nə-ˈzā-shən
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of weaponize in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
It was actually weaponized by the federal government and used to spy on an American citizen. — Fox News, "Media downplay Trump administration's economic successes," 28 July 2018 Photo: European Pressphoto Agency Investor fear is justified as Beijing has weaponized its army of shoppers before. — Jacky Wong, WSJ, "Huawei Row Roasts Canada Goose," 11 Dec. 2018 The war of words against the press from the White House, its propaganda arm Fox News and congressmen who’ve advocated violence against noncompliant reporters was weaponized. — Lorraine Ali, latimes.com, "'The Handmaid's Tale': A deeper look at the chillingly prescient second season," 9 July 2018 However, the new campaign included creative new elements as well as a seemingly deliberate reuse of old phishing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), including using the same system to weaponize a Windows shortcut (LNK) file. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "Russia’s Cozy Bear comes out of hiding with post-election spear-phishing blitz," 20 Nov. 2018 There have been countless examples of administrations throughout the United States weaponizing these policies to police their student's bodies and wardrobes. — Alyssa Hardy, Teen Vogue, "A California High School Creates an Anti-Dress Code for Students," 23 Aug. 2018 American progressives often weaponize statistics like these to urge greater redistribution. — Phil Gramm And, WSJ, "The Myth of American Inequality," 9 Aug. 2018 Powell has made a name for himself by weaponizing his all-American frat-boy appeal in order to deftly skewer some of cinema’s most obnoxious bro tropes. — Joanna Robinson, HWD, "Set It Up’s Glen Powell Invites You to “Netflix and Chill” with His New Rom-Com," 14 June 2018 But critics say Maduro has essentially weaponized food, distributing the boxes primarily to government workers and supporters. — Joshua Goodman, The Seattle Times, "As Venezuelans go hungry, Trump targets food corruption," 24 Sep. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'weaponize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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