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armor

 - 4 dictionary results

ar⋅mor

[ahr-mer]
–noun
1. any covering worn as a defense against weapons.
2. a suit of armor.
3. a metallic sheathing or protective covering, esp. metal plates, used on warships, armored vehicles, airplanes, and fortifications.
4. mechanized units of military forces, as armored divisions.
5. Also called armament. any protective covering, as on certain animals, insects, or plants.
6. any quality, characteristic, situation, or thing that serves as protection: A chilling courtesy was his only armor.
7. the outer, protective wrapping of metal, usually fine, braided steel wires, on a cable.
–verb (used with object)
8. to cover or equip with armor or armor plate.
Also, especially British, armour.


Origin:
1250–1300; ME armo(u)r, armure < AF armour(e), armure OF armëure < L armātūra armature; assimilated, in ME and AF, to nouns ending in -our -or 2


ar⋅mor⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ar·mor   (är'mər)   
n.  
  1. A defensive covering, as of metal, wood, or leather, worn to protect the body against weapons.

  2. A tough, protective covering, such as the bony scales covering certain animals or the metallic plates on tanks or warships.

  3. A safeguard or protection: faith, the missionary's armor.

    1. The combat arm that deploys armored vehicles, such as tanks.

    2. The armored vehicles of an army.

tr.v.   ar·mored, ar·mor·ing, ar·mors
To cover with armor.

[Middle English armure, from Old French armeure, from Latin armātūra, equipment; see armature.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

armor 
1297, "mail, defensive covering worn in combat," from O.Fr. armeure, from L. armatura "arms, equipment," from arma "arms, gear." The word might have died with jousting if not for late 19c. transference to metal-shielded machinery beginning with U.S. Civil War ironclads (first attested in this sense in an 1855 report from the U.S. Congressional Committee on Naval Affairs).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

armor

see chink in one's armor; knight in shining armor.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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