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armed forces
plural noun
: the combined military, naval, and air forces of a nation
called also armed services
Examples of armed forces in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The trend started in 1909, when the U.S. Army Signal Corps bought a Wright Military Flyer from the Wright brothers for $30,000, and has kept apace for more than a century as dozens of aircraft types were converted for the armed forces.
—Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2024
Thousands of protesters in the capital last Saturday called for the withdrawal of American armed forces personnel only days after Russia delivered its own set of military equipment and instructors to the country’s military.
—Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Recommended Such carrots and sticks are needed to reverse three decades of decline and downsizing by the Ukrainian armed forces, says Mr. Kozii.
—Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2024
The Prince of Wales has further honed on combating the suicide rate among men in the U.K., in addition to his work advocating for the armed forces community.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
The state will also have to convince the nation’s educational institutions to overcome their outdated ethos of pacifism; most top research universities still prohibit their engineers and scientists from collaborating with the armed forces.
—Tomohiko Taniguchi, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2024
Advertisement But social currents don’t start a war; organized and opposing armed forces do.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Myanmar's once-mighty armed forces have suffered a series of unprecedented defeats since October, losing swaths of territory including border posts to ethnic fighters and guerrilla units.
—Jerry Harmer and Jintamas Saksornchai The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 13 Apr. 2024
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the area, including one member of Hamas' armed forces, near the city of Tubas, west of the Jordan Valley, according to the military.
—USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'armed forces.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1625, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near armed forces
Cite this Entry
“Armed forces.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armed%20forces. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
armed forces
noun plural
: the military, naval, and air forces of a nation
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