Words / B2

WEP-uh-n/ˈwepən/

A weapon is an object used to hurt or kill, or something used to gain an advantage: a new weapon; a legal weapon. Arms is the military plural; tool is neutral. The history paper asks how the weapon changed tactics. Mix-up: weather is climate (already in the dictionary). Do not write weapon for any sharp classroom object in a PE write-up.

Meaning

An object used to hurt or kill in a fight; also something used to gain an advantage.

Examples

• “The history paper asks how the new weapon changed trench tactics.”
• “Debt was used as a political weapon, which is the metaphor sense.”

Good to know

a nuclear / chemical weapon; weaponise (verb). Military plural: arms. Trap: weather. History and news. Instrument of harm or advantage.

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