ordnance

noun

ord·​nance ˈȯrd-nən(t)s 

1

a

: military supplies including weapons, ammunition, combat vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment

bombers dropped heavy concentrations of ordnance on every targeted airfield

—Ron Dick

b

: a service of the army charged with the procuring, distributing, and safekeeping of ordnance

2

: cannon, artillery

Several pieces of ordnance bombarded the entrenched enemy.

Synonyms

• artillery
• guns

Examples of ordnance in a Sentence

The company was outfitted with 50-millimeter ordnance.

the army is waiting for the heavy ordnance to be brought in

Recent Examples on the Web

On Thursday, two more pieces of unexploded ordnance were found. —Kerry Breen, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2025

The Navy listed his military specialty as a special operations explosive ordnance disposal/dive officer. —Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2025

Gaza’s emergency rescue services, the Civil Defense, have pleaded with residents not to attempt retrievals on their own, warning of the potential for bombs or unexploded ordnance beneath the wreckage. —Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Saher Alghorra, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2025

The October 7 attacks led to the meaningless loss of tens of thousands of lives; the Strip has been razed and strewn with ordnance, and billions of dollars in aid money squandered, while Hamas proclaims divine victory for its resistance project. —Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ordinaunce, from Anglo-French ordenance disposition, preparation, military provisions — more at ordinance

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

ordnance

noun

ord·​nance ˈȯrd-nən(t)s 

1

: military supplies

also : the branch of the army that obtains and gives out military supplies

2

: artillery sense 1