place of arms

noun

1. an area in a fortress or a fortified town where troops could assemble for defense.
2. an enlarged part of the covered way in a fortification.

Word History and Origins

Origin of place of arms¹

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Just as soon as Lydia overcomes her lust for a man with crab claws in place of arms.

From New York Times

The resulting babies include Arty, the child with flippers in place of arms and legs, a pair of piano-playing Siamese twins, and Olympia, the albino hunchback dwarf who narrates the story.

From Los Angeles Times

My arrest was a move in the game intended as a counterblast to the victory which M. de Rambouillet had gained when he persuaded the king to move to Tours; a city in the neighbourhood of the Huguenots, and a place of arms whence union with them would be easy.

From Project Gutenberg

Black also was the small banner which waved above them, and bore in place of arms the emblem of the Bleeding Heart.

From Project Gutenberg

Castel Nuovo robbed it of its consequence, both as a royal dwelling and a place of arms; and now the noisy, feverish tide of life that beats so restlessly from east to west through the great city finds scarce an echo on the silent battlements of the Egg Castle, where Norman monarchs met their barons and royal prisoners languished in the dungeons.

From Project Gutenberg