ARTILLERY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does artillery mean? 

• ARTILLERY (noun)
  The noun ARTILLERY has 3 senses:

1. large but transportable armament

2. an army unit that uses big guns

3. a means of persuading or arguing

  Familiarity information: ARTILLERY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ARTILLERY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Large but transportable armament

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

artillery; gun; heavy weapon; ordnance

Hypernyms ("artillery" is a kind of...):

armament (weaponry used by military or naval force)

Meronyms (parts of "artillery"):

gunstock; stock (the handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "artillery"):

cannon (a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels)

field artillery; field gun (movable artillery (other than antiaircraft) used by armies in the field (especially for direct support of front-line troops))

four-pounder (an artillery gun that throws a shot weighing four pounds)

Holonyms ("artillery" is a part of...):

battery (a collection of related things intended for use together)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An army unit that uses big guns

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

artillery; artillery unit

Hypernyms ("artillery" is a kind of...):

army unit (a military unit that is part of an army)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "artillery"):

battery (group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A means of persuading or arguing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

artillery; weapon

Context example:

he used all his conversational weapons

Hypernyms ("artillery" is a kind of...):

persuasion; suasion (the act of persuading (or attempting to persuade); communication intended to induce belief or action)

 Context examples 

We were shut up in Bhurtee, the regiment of us with half a battery of artillery, a company of Sikhs, and a lot of civilians and women-folk.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He is in the artillery.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)