armed forces
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of armed forces
First recorded in 1685–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Since the Iraq war, the U.K.’s number of fully-trained armed forces has declined by around a third.
The French Army told the BBC its armed forces are "constantly adapting their posture in response to threats" and are deploying all air and maritime assets in the area.
From BBC
The development of more potent submarines would boost Beijing’s bid to forge a world-class oceangoing navy, a key element in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ambitious campaign to modernize the armed forces.
As well as conventional armed forces and well-armed police, there is the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, with an explicit mandate to protect the regime at home and abroad.
From BBC
“The idea is to close the gap that all Western armed forces have right now because they see that they are behind in the drone technology,” said Lehna, who is a former German military officer.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.