the military forces of a nation or nations, including the army, navy, air force, marines, etc
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
armed for•ces /ˈɑrmd ˈfɔrsɪz/USA pronunciation n. [plural]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Militarythe military, naval, and air forces of a nation or of a number of nations. Also called ˈarmed ˈserv•ic•es.
armed′ forc′es,
- Militarymilitary, naval, and air forces, esp. of a nation or of a number of nations. Also called armed′ serv′ices.
- 1685–95
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'armed forces' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
AVF
- Agent Orange
- Air Medal
- Airman's Medal
- American Legion
- Armada
- Armed Forces Day
- British Legion
- Bundeswehr
- C ration
- Chief of Staff
- ENSA
- Establishment
- F.A.L.N.
- Holy Joe
- Joint Chiefs of Staff
- K ration
- Keitel
- MacArthur
- Marine Corps
- Maritime Command
- Medal of Honor
- Memorial Day
- Purple Heart
- Royal British Legion
- Unknown Soldier
- able-bodied
- armada
- arms
- arms control
- army
- barracks lawyer
- basic training
- batman
- battle
- batwoman
- brigadier
- buy out
- cashier
- casualty
- chief warrant officer
- colonel
- color
- color guard
- commander in chief
- commission
- conscientious objection
- conscientious objector
- constable
- demerit