artillery
noun
ar·til·lery
är-ˈti-lə-rē 
-ˈtil-rē
plural artilleries
1
: weapons (such as bows, slings, and catapults) for discharging missiles
2
a
: large bore mounted firearms (such as guns, howitzers, and rockets) : ordnance
especially
: such ordnance that is capable of long-range indirect fire at a target too distant to be seen
b
: a branch of an army armed with artillery
3
: a means of impressing, arguing, persuading, or competing
… indicated that the Bureau had not rolled out its heavy artillery for a full-scale investigation.—
Herbert Mitgang
Herbert MitgangExamples of artillery in a Sentence
The troops were being bombarded by artillery.
a captain in the artillery
Recent Examples on the Web
Camp Knox was established during World War I and became an artillery training center, according to the Army post's website.
—CBS News, 21 Feb. 2025
Scott Peterson/Getty Images/The Christian Science Monitor That line remains beyond artillery range, some 28 miles away.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Feb. 2025
Germany opened up new lines of production for artillery, Finland and Sweden joined NATO out of fear and necessity, and more than 20 of the alliance’s members crossed the long-outdated threshold of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
—David E. Sanger, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Rumsfeld succeeded in canceling just one weapons program, a vastly over-budget artillery battery in development by the Army.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for artillery
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CBS News, 21 Feb. 2025
Scott Peterson/Getty Images/The Christian Science Monitor That line remains beyond artillery range, some 28 miles away.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Feb. 2025
Germany opened up new lines of production for artillery, Finland and Sweden joined NATO out of fear and necessity, and more than 20 of the alliance’s members crossed the long-outdated threshold of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
—David E. Sanger, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Rumsfeld succeeded in canceling just one weapons program, a vastly over-budget artillery battery in development by the Army.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for artillery
Cite this Entry
“Artillery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artillery. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
artillery
noun
ar·til·lery
är-ˈtil-(ə-)rē
plural artilleries
1
: large firearms (as cannon or rockets)
2
: a branch of an army armed with artillery
artilleryman
noun
-mən
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