Disarm

/dɪsˈɑː(ɹ)m/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To deprive of weapons; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To deprive of weapons; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless.
2. (transitive) To deprive of the means or the disposition to harm; to render harmless or innocuous.
3. (intransitive) To lay down arms; to stand down.
4. (intransitive) To reduce one's own military forces.
5. (transitive) To render into a state in which something is no longer armed, or prepared for use (such as to disable the security systems on).
6. The act of depriving a person of a weapon they carry.

Example Sentences

[recreation of speech given in 1775] They tell us, sir, […] that we are weak―unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? […] Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and a British guard shall be stationed in every house?

The Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin has been hit badly. Shells have sheared off several main guns and virtually disarmed the vessel. In the middle of all this, one Ensign Isoroku Yamamoto loses two fingers to the remains of an explosion.

to disarm a man's wrath

ON THE NARROW GAUGE. By P. B. Whitehouse. Nelson 30s. [...] In an introductory note Mr. Whitehouse disarms any criticism from narrow-gauge aficionados as immersed in the subject as himself by pointing out that his book has no pretensions to the status of a new narrow-gauge textbook; [...].

In some towns and cities, NOW members are still seen as "a bunch of lesbians" and the issue is continually used against them. Only by realizing that the name calling will stop once feminists work to disarm the word "lesbian" of its negative connotations, will non-lesbian members cease their fears of lesbian presence in the chapter.

Foremost in her arsenal is that smile – so enormous and so absurdly disarming that someone should have worked out a way to harness its power into international conflict resolution.

You can open and close all the doors you want during this delay. Just keep in mind that if you have to re-enter, and it has been close to a minute, you may want to disarm and then re-arm just to be on the safe side.

As a brief background, the gun disarms originally taught to S.A.C. Airmen as part of the Combative Measures program were taken from Kodokan Goshin-Jutsu.

Synonyms for disarm

Antonyms for disarm

Related Words

Word Forms

• disarms
• disarming
• disarmed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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