take up arms

Verb

Meaning

commence hostilities

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hypernyms

Examples

Remember that whatever may be said by a lady or her friends, it is not part of conduct of a gallant or generous man to take up arms against a woman. Sam Houston

The feeling of revolt will grow stronger every day among the peoples subjected to various degrees of exploitation, and they will take up arms to gain by force the rights which reason alone has not won them. Che Guevara

Men who take up arms against the State must expect at any moment to be fired upon. Men who take up arms unlawfully cannot expect that the troops will wait until they are quite ready to begin the conflict. Winston Churchill

Communism is born out of misery, and if the West does not show more understanding, those people will take up arms and turn to others, that is the Soviet Union. François Mitterrand

We must make a start. We must renounce war as an instrument of policy.... Even as I speak to you I may be guilty of what some men call treason.... You young men should refuse to take up arms. Young women tear down the patriotic posters. And all of you - young and old - put away your flags. Dorothy Day

As for Mars, when that divinity is enshrined outside the walls, the citizens will never take up arms against each other, and he will defend the city from its enemies and save it from danger in war. Vitruvius

Close letter words and terms