plate armor

noun

1. armor made of thin, flat, shaped pieces of wrought iron or steel.
2. any armor composed of, or having as an exterior surface, tough, stiff, flat pieces, large or small, of various materials, as iron, steel, or horn.

Word History and Origins

Origin of plate armor¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

A very fine drawing on blue paper, lent from the Met, shows the care he lavished on the plate armor: soft ripples of the chain mail, a shimmer of light on the greaves.

From New York Times

ShotStop Ballistics, which has been around for 30 years, has developed backpack plate armor inserts.

From Washington Times

Ironside put on plate armor and used the show’s forged version of Oathkeeper to destroy a shield and cut through a gel replica of a human torso, and what’s not to love about that?

From Salon

Or as heavy, defensive tessellations of metal, like the plate armor of soldiers in medieval Europe or Japan?

From New York Times

“I have the vest. I have the plate armor. I have soft armor. I have helmets,” he continues.

From Washington Post