ordnance
pronunciation
How to pronounce ordnance in British English:
UK [ˈɔ:dnəns]
How to pronounce ordnance in American English:
US [ˈɔrdnəns]
-
- Noun:
- military supplies
- large but transportable armament
Word Origin
- ordnance (n.)
- "cannon, artillery," 1540s, a clipped form of ordinance (q.v.) which was attested from late 14c. in the sense of "military materials, provisions of war;" a sense now obsolete but which led to those of "engines for discharging missiles" (early 15c.) and "branch of the military concerned with stores and materials" (late 15c.). The shorter word was established in these distinct senses by 17c. Ordnance survey (1833), official survey of Great Britain and Ireland, was undertaken by the government under the direction of the Master-General of the Ordnance (the natural choice, gunners being thoroughly trained in surveying ranges and distances).
Example
- 1. This paper analyses the mixed multi-attribute characteristic of ordnance urgency decision-making .
- 2. Royal army ordnance corps , 43rd divisional ordnance field park and 306th mobile bath unit .
- 3. In an age of new emphasis on drones and lightweight weaponry , the air force 's purchase highlights the pentagon 's ongoing need for defense contractors to build the kinds of big bombs and other heavy-duty ordnance they have produced for decades .
- 4. Let 's see your ordnance lists .
- 5. While some early studies conjectured that bullets shot upwards simply vanished into space , the threat from falling ordnance is not to be dismissed .