Adjacent Words

Arms definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

'ARMS, n. plu. [L. arma.]
1. Weapons of offense, or armor for defense and protection of the body.
2. War; hostility.
Arms and the man I sing.
To be in arms, to be in a state of hostility, or in a military life.
To arms is a phrase which denotes a taking arms for war or hostility; particularly, a summoning to war.
To take arms, is to arm for attack or defense.
Bred to arms denotes that a person has been educated to the profession of a soldier.
3. The ensigns armorial of a family; consisting of figures and colors borne in shields, banners, etc., as marks of dignity and distinction, and descending from father to son.
4. In law, arms are any thing which a man takes in his hand in anger, to strike or assault another.
5. In botany, one of the seven species of fulcra or props of plants, enumerated by Linne and others. The different species of arms or armor, are prickles, thorns, forks and stings, which seem intended to protect the plants from injury by animals.
Sire arms, are such as may be charged with powder, as cannon, muskets, mortars, etc.
A stand of arms consists of a musket, bayonet, cartridge-box and belt, with a sword. But for common soldiers a sword is not necessary.
In falconry, arms are the legs of a hawk from the thigh to the foot.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: weapons considered collectively [syn: weaponry, arms, implements of war, weapons system, munition]
2: the official symbols of a family, state, etc. [syn: coat of arms, arms, blazon, blazonry]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Arms Arms, n. pl. [OE. armes, F. arme, pl. armes, fr. L. arma, pl., arms, orig. fittings, akin to armus shoulder, and E. arm. See Arm, n.] 1. Instruments or weapons of offense or defense. He lays down his arms, but not his wiles. --Milton. Three horses and three goodly suits of arms. --Tennyson. 2. The deeds or exploits of war; military service or science. ``Arms and the man I sing.'' --Dryden. 3. (Law) Anything which a man takes in his hand in anger, to strike or assault another with; an aggressive weapon. --Cowell. Blackstone. 4. (Her.) The ensigns armorial of a family, consisting of figures and colors borne in shields, banners, etc., as marks of dignity and distinction, and descending from father to son. 5. (Falconry) The legs of a hawk from the thigh to the foot. --Halliwell. Bred to arms, educated to the profession of a soldier. In arms, armed for war; in a state of hostility. Small arms, portable firearms known as muskets, rifles, carbines, pistols, etc. A stand of arms, a complete set for one soldier, as a musket, bayonet, cartridge box and belt; frequently, the musket and bayonet alone. To arms! a summons to war or battle. Under arms, armed and equipped and in readiness for battle, or for a military parade. Arm's end, Arm's length, Arm's reach. See under Arm.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. pl. 1. Weapons, means of offence and defence, armor, harness, accoutrements, array, panoply, mail, martial array. 2. War, warlike exploits, warfare, heroic achievements, deeds of valor, deeds of arms. 3. Escutcheon, scutcheon, shield, ensign armorial, armorial bearings, device, crest, coat of arms, heraldic emblem.

Moby Thesaurus

achievement, alerion, animal charge, annulet, argent, armorial bearings, armory, art of war, azure, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, billet, blazon, blazonry, bordure, broad arrow, cadency mark, canton, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, chivalry, coat of arms, cockatrice, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, device, difference, differencing, eagle, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, flanch, fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, generalship, griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, honor point, impalement, impaling, inescutcheon, knighthood, label, lion, lozenge, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, metal, motto, mullet, nombril point, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle, pale, paly, pean, pheon, purpure, quarter, quartering, rose, sable, saltire, scutcheon, shield, spread eagle, subordinary, tenne, tincture, torse, tressure, unicorn, vair, vert, war, wreath, yale