Adjacent Words

Disarm definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISARM, v.t. s as z.
1. To deprive of arms; to take the arms or weapons from , usually by force or authority; as, he disarmed his foes; the prince gave orders to disarm his subjects. With of before the thing taken away; as, to disarm one of his weapons.
2. To deprive of means of attack or defense; as, to disarm a venomous serpent.
3. To deprive of force, strength, or means of annoyance; to render harmless; to quell; as, to disarm rage or passion.
4. To strip; to divest of any thing injurious or threatening; as, piety disarms death of its terrors.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: remove offensive capability from [syn: disarm, demilitarize, demilitarise] [ant: arm, build up, fortify, gird]
2: make less hostile; win over; "Her charm disarmed the prosecution lawyer completely"
3: take away the weapons from; render harmless [syn: disarm, unarm]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English desarmen, literally, to divest of arms, from Anglo-French desarmer, from des- dis- + armer to arm Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to deprive of means, reason, or disposition to be hostile <disarmed criticism by admitting her errors> b. to win over 2. a. to divest of arms <disarm captured troops> b. to deprive of a means of attack or defense <disarm a ship> c. to make harmless <disarm a bomb> intransitive verb 1. to lay aside arms 2. to give up or reduce armed forces • disarmament noun • disarmer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. a take weapons away from (a person, State, etc.) (often foll. by of : were disarmed of their rifles). b Fencing etc. deprive of a weapon. 2 tr. deprive (a ship etc.) of its means of defence. 3 intr. (of a State etc.) disband or reduce its armed forces. 4 tr. remove the fuse from (a bomb etc.). 5 tr. deprive of the power to injure. 6 tr. pacify or allay the hostility or suspicions of; mollify; placate. Derivatives: disarmer n. disarming adj. (esp. in sense 6). disarmingly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF desarmer (as DIS-, ARM(2))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Disarm Dis*arm", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Disarming; p. pr. & vb. n. Disarming.] [OE. desarmen, F. d['e]sarmer; pref. d['e]s- (L. dis-) + armer to arm. See Arm.] 1. To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. Security disarms the best-appointed army. --Fuller. The proud was half disarmed of pride. --Tennyson. 2. To deprive of the means or the disposition to harm; to render harmless or innocuous; as, to disarm a man's wrath.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(disarms, disarming, disarmed) 1. To disarm a person or group means to take away all their weapons. We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. VERB: V n 2. If a country or group disarms, it gives up the use of weapons, especially nuclear weapons. There has also been a suggestion that the forces in Lebanon should disarm... VERB: V 3. If a person or their behaviour disarms you, they cause you to feel less angry, hostile, or critical towards them. His unease disarmed her... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Deprive of arms or weapons. 2. Disable, incapacitate, render powerless, harmless, or innocuous. II. v. n. Lay down arms, reduce the military establishment, dismiss or disband troops, reduce forces to a peace footing.

Moby Thesaurus

allure, appease, attract, bewitch, captivate, charm, conciliate, cripple, deactivate, decommission, deflate, demilitarize, demobilize, disable, disband, enchain, enchant, fascinate, gag, hamstring, handcuff, hobble, hog-tie, immobilize, incapacitate, knock out, manacle, mollify, muzzle, pacify, paralyze, placate, propitiate, prostrate, put at ease, reconcile, reconvert, set at ease, sheathe the sword, silence, strangle, throttle, truss up, win over