Adjacent Words

Weapon definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WEAPON, n. [G., L.]
1. Any instrument of offense; any thing used or designed to be used in destroying or annoying an enemy. The weapons of rude nations are clubs, stones and bows and arrows. Modern weapons of war are swords, muskets, pistols, cannon and the like.
2. An instrument for contest, or for combating enemies.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. 2 Corinthians 10.
3. An instrument of defense.
4. Weapons, in botany, arms; thorns, prickles, and stings, with which plants are furnished for defense; enumerated among the fulcres by Linne.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting; "he was licensed to carry a weapon" [syn: weapon, arm, weapon system]
2: a means of persuading or arguing; "he used all his conversational weapons" [syn: weapon, artillery]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English wepen, from Old English w?pen; akin to Old High German w?ffan weapon, Old Norse v?pn Date: before 12th century 1. something (as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy 2. a means of contending against another II. transitive verb Date: before 12th century arm

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a thing designed or used or usable for inflicting bodily harm (e.g. a gun or cosh). 2 a means employed for trying to gain the advantage in a conflict (irony is a double-edged weapon). Derivatives: weaponed adj. (also in comb.). weaponless adj. Etymology: OE wæp(e)n f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Weapon Weap"on (?; 277), n. [OE. wepen, AS. w?pen; akin to OS. w?pan, OFries. w?pin, w?pen, D. wapen, G. waffe, OHG. waffan, w[=a]fan, Icel. v[=a]pn, Dan. vaaben, Sw. vapen, Goth. w?pna, pl.; of uncertain origin. Cf. Wapentake.] 1. An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a sword, etc. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. --2 Cor. x. 4. They, astonished, all resistance lost, All courage; down their idle weapons dropped. --Milton. 2. Fig.: The means or instrument with which one contends against another; as, argument was his only weapon. ``Woman's weapons, water drops.'' --Shak. 3. (Bot.) A thorn, prickle, or sting with which many plants are furnished. Concealed weapons. See under Concealed. Weapon salve, a salve which was supposed to cure a wound by being applied to the weapon that made it. [Obs.] --Boyle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(weapons) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A weapon is an object such as a gun, a knife, or a missile, which is used to kill or hurt people in a fight or a war. ...nuclear weapons. N-COUNT 2. A weapon is something such as knowledge about a particular subject, which you can use to protect yourself or to get what you want in a difficult situation. I attack politicians with the one weapon they don't have, a sense of humor. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

A-weapons, armament, arms, biological weapons, conventional weapons, cutting edge, deadly weapons, edge, edge tool, featheredge, instruments of destruction, knife-edge, missilery, munitions, musketry, nuclear weapons, ordnance, razor-edge, side arms, small arms, thermonuclear weapons, weaponry, weapons