army

noun

ar·​my ˈär-mē 

plural armies

1

a

: a large organized body of armed personnel trained for war especially on land

b

: a unit capable of independent action and consisting usually of a headquarters, two or more corps, and auxiliary troops

c

often capitalized : the complete military organization of a nation for land warfare

2

: a great multitude

an army of birds

3

: a body of persons organized to advance a cause

Synonyms

• battalion
• troops
• soldiers

Examples of army in a Sentence

the armies of Alexander the Great

He left home and joined the army after he graduated from high school.

The company employs an army of lawyers to handle its legal affairs.

They sent in a whole army of trained technicians.

The organization was founded by a dedicated army of volunteers.

Recent Examples on the Web

With an army of 222 million followers, his social voice and willingness to traffic in objectionable content or conspiracy theories proved a major hurdle to advertisers. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 9 July 2025

Russia’s bigger army also is trying hard to break through at some points along the roughly 1,000-kilometer front line, where Ukrainian forces are severely stretched. —Aamer Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 8 July 2025

Russia’s bigger army also is trying hard to break through at some points along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) front line, where Ukrainian forces are severely stretched. —Illia Novikov, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025

Soldatov said that along this path was the 2008 war in Georgia, which showed the Russian army would not be humiliated anymore. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English armee, armye "host of armed men, naval fleet, military expedition," borrowed from Anglo-French armé, armee, from armer "to arm entry 2" + -ee, suffix of action or result (going back to Vulgar Latin *-āta, noun derivative from feminine of Latin -ātus, past participle ending of Latin first-conjugation verbs)

Note: Compare Spanish armada "military force, fleet of warships"—see armada.

First Known Use

circa 1522, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing army

• army ant
• general of the army
• sergeant major of the army
• standing army

Kids Definition

army

noun

ar·​my ˈär-mē 

plural armies

1

a

: a large body of men and women organized for land warfare

b

often capitalized : the complete military organization of a nation for land warfare

2

: a great number of persons or things

3

: a body of persons organized to promote an idea

Etymology

Middle English armee "army," from early French armee (same meaning), derived from Latin arma "weapons"