Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Arms - 5 dictionary results

arm

2   [ahrm]
–noun
1. Usually, arms. weapons, esp. firearms.
2. arms, Heraldry. the escutcheon, with its divisions, charges, and tinctures, and the other components forming an achievement that symbolizes and is reserved for a person, family, or corporate body; armorial bearings; coat of arms.
–verb (used without object)
3. to enter into a state of hostility or of readiness for war.
–verb (used with object)
4. to equip with weapons: to arm the troops.
5. to activate (a fuze) so that it will explode the charge at the time desired.
6. to cover protectively.
7. to provide with whatever will add strength, force, or security; support; fortify: He was armed with statistics and facts.
8. to equip or prepare for any specific purpose or effective use: to arm a security system; to arm oneself with persuasive arguments.
9. to prepare for action; make fit; ready.
—Idioms
10. bear arms,
a. to carry weapons.
b. to serve as a member of the military or of contending forces: His religious convictions kept him from bearing arms, but he served as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross.
11. take up arms, to prepare for war; go to war: to take up arms against the enemy.
12. under arms, ready for battle; trained and equipped: The number of men under arms is no longer the decisive factor in warfare.
13. up in arms, ready to take action; indignant; outraged: There is no need to get up in arms over such a trifle.
Origin:
1200–50 for v.; 1300–50 for n.; (v.) ME armen < AF, OF armer < L armāre to arm, v. deriv. of arma (pl.) tools, weapons (not akin to arm 1 ); (n.) ME armes (pl.) ≪ L arma, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Arms
Spanish: armas, German: die Waffen, Japanese: 武器
View 29 other languages »
arm 1     (ärm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. An upper limb of the human body, connecting the hand and wrist to the shoulder.
  2. A part similar to a human arm, such as the forelimb of an animal or a long part projecting from a central support in a machine.
  3. Something, such as a sleeve on a garment or a support on a chair, that is designed to cover or support the human arm.
  4. A relatively narrow extension jutting out from a large mass: an arm of the sea. See Synonyms at branch.
  5. An administrative or functional branch, as of an organization.
  6. Power or authority: the long arm of the law.
  7. Sports The skill of throwing or pitching a ball well.


[Middle English, from Old English earm; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

armed (ärmd) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
arm 2     (ärm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A weapon, especially a firearm: troops bearing arms; ICBMs, bombs, and other nuclear arms.
  2. A branch of a military force: infantry, armor, and other combat arms.
  3. arms
    1. Warfare: a call to arms against the invaders.
    2. Military service: several million volunteers under arms; the profession of arms.
    3. Heraldry Bearings.
    4. Insignia, as of a state, an official, a family, or an organization.
  4. arms
    1. Heraldry Bearings.
    2. Insignia, as of a state, an official, a family, or an organization.

v.   armed, arm·ing, arms

v.   intr.
  1. To supply or equip oneself with weaponry.
  2. To prepare oneself for warfare or conflict.

v.   tr.
  1. To equip with weapons: armed themselves with loaded pistols; arm a missile with a warhead; arm a nation for war.
  2. To equip with what is needed for effective action: tax advisers who were armed with the latest forms.
  3. To provide with something that strengthens or protects: a space reentry vehicle that was armed with a ceramic shield.
  4. To prepare (a weapon) for use or operation, as by releasing a safety device.


[From Middle English armes, weapons, from Old French, pl. of arme, weapon, from Latin arma, weapons; see ar- in Indo-European roots. V., Middle English armen, from Old French armer, from Latin armāre, from arma.]

armed (ärmd) adj., arm'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
arms

noun
1. weapons considered collectively [syn: weaponry] 
2. the official symbols of a family, state, etc. [syn: coat of arms] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Cite This Source

Arms

A*larm"\ ([.a]*l[aum]rm"), n. [F. alarme, It. all' arme to arms ! fr. L. arma, pl., arms. See Arms, and cf. Alarum.]

1. A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.

Arming to answer in a night alarm. --Shak.

2. Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger.

Sound an alarm in my holy mountain. --Joel ii. 1.

3. A sudden attack; disturbance; broil. [R.] "These home alarms." --Shak.

Thy palace fill with insults and alarms. --Pope.

4. Sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly, sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise.

Alarm and resentment spread throughout the camp. --Macaulay.

5. A mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep, or rousing their attention; an alarum.

Alarm bell, a bell that gives notice on danger.

Alarm clock or watch, a clock or watch which can be so set as to ring or strike loudly at a prearranged hour, to wake from sleep, or excite attention.

Alarm gauge, a contrivance attached to a steam boiler for showing when the pressure of steam is too high, or the water in the boiler too low.

Alarm post, a place to which troops are to repair in case of an alarm.

Syn: Fright; affright; terror; trepidation; apprehension; consternation; dismay; agitation; disquiet; disquietude.

Usage: Alarm, Fright, Terror, Consternation. These words express different degrees of fear at the approach of danger. Fright is fear suddenly excited, producing confusion of the senses, and hence it is unreflecting. Alarm is the hurried agitation of feeling which springs from a sense of immediate and extreme exposure. Terror is agitating and excessive fear, which usually benumbs the faculties. Consternation is overwhelming fear, and carries a notion of powerlessness and amazement. Alarm agitates the feelings; terror disorders the understanding and affects the will; fright seizes on and confuses the sense; consternation takes possession of the soul, and subdues its faculties. See Apprehension.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Share :Share This: digg.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: www.myspace.comShare This: www.google.comShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: myjeeves.ask.com
Search another word or see Arms on Thesaurus | Reference | Translate
Get your FREE Subscription to Dictionary.com Word of the Day
The FREE Dictionary.com Toolbar
Dictionary Thesaurus Reference
The answers are right on your browser and just a click away with Dictionary.com Toolbar.