disarm
/dɪsˈɑɹm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.21 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To deprive of weapons; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless.
Transitive verb
verb
To deprive of the means or the disposition to harm; to render harmless or innocuous.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[recreation of speech given in 1775] They tell us, sir, […] that we are weak―unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? […] Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and a British guard shall be stationed in every house?"
- "The Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin has been hit badly. Shells have sheared off several main guns and virtually disarmed the vessel. In the middle of all this, one Ensign Isoroku Yamamoto loses two fingers to the remains of an explosion."
- "to disarm a man's wrath"
- "ON THE NARROW GAUGE. By P. B. Whitehouse. Nelson 30s. [...] In an introductory note Mr. Whitehouse disarms any criticism from narrow-gauge aficionados as immersed in the subject as himself by pointing out that his book has no pretensions to the status of a new narrow-gauge textbook; [...]."
- "In some towns and cities, NOW members are still seen as "a bunch of lesbians" and the issue is continually used against them. Only by realizing that the name calling will stop once feminists work to disarm the word "lesbian" of its negative connotations, will non-lesbian members cease their fears of lesbian presence in the chapter."
- "Foremost in her arsenal is that smile – so enormous and so absurdly disarming that someone should have worked out a way to harness its power into international conflict resolution."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: desarmen, desarmer
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪsˈɑɹm/
- British English: /dɪsˈɑː(ɹ)m/