as in firearm
a portable weapon from which a shot is discharged by gunpowder
the soldiers keep their small arms securely in their holsters when not on patrol
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Recent Examples of small arm
Sort of small arms warfare, where they were harassed for months in one of these sad situations where the cops wouldn’t intervene.
—
Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 8 Jan. 2026
The Russia-Ukraine War began as a fairly standard 21st-century conventional war, marked by huge armored columns trying to take key cities and military installations, air assaults, close air support, and small arms gunbattles.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 Dec. 2025
Still, no small arm matches its raw stopping power within its effective range.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2025
Producer and colleague Monika Evstatieva and I were in that convoy, took small arms fire, but were unharmed.
—Tom Bowman, NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for small arm
Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 8 Jan. 2026
The Russia-Ukraine War began as a fairly standard 21st-century conventional war, marked by huge armored columns trying to take key cities and military installations, air assaults, close air support, and small arms gunbattles.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 28 Dec. 2025
Still, no small arm matches its raw stopping power within its effective range.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2025
Producer and colleague Monika Evstatieva and I were in that convoy, took small arms fire, but were unharmed.
—Tom Bowman, NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for small arm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for small arm
Noun
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Bush was charged with murder, home invasion and criminal possession of a firearm.—
Naveen Dhaliwal,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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Bush is charged with murder, home invasion and criminal possession of a firearm, and is being held in lieu of a $2 million court set bond.—
Sean Krofssik,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The jury found that the trooper and another radioed a false location to headquarters before entering the apartment, and one of them decided to plant a gun at the scene afterward before his partner persuaded him against it.—
Alexandra Glorioso,
Miami Herald,
26 Mar. 2026
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At the time of the initial gun battle, the MacEgans were on an afternoon walk through a nearby field.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Small arm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/small%20arm. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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