arms

/ ɑːmz /

plural noun

1. weapons collectively See also small arms
2. military exploits

   prowess in arms

3. the official heraldic symbols of a family, state, etc, including a shield with distinctive devices, and often supports, a crest, or other insignia
4. bear arms
   1. to carry weapons
   2. to serve in the armed forces
   3. to have a coat of arms
5. in arms or under arms
   armed and prepared for war
6. lay down one's arms
   to stop fighting; surrender
7. present arms
   military
   1. a position of salute in which the rifle is brought up to a position vertically in line with the body, muzzle uppermost and trigger guard to the fore
   2. the command for this drill
8. take arms or take up arms
   to prepare to fight
9. to arms!
   arm yourselves!
10. up in arms
    indignant; prepared to protest strongly

Word History and Origins

Origin of arms¹

C13: from Old French armes, from Latin arma; see arm ²

Example Sentences

Raised on a steady diet of war stories, and with a chain-smoking aunt who gave her eyesight and two arms to the cause, the pair join the IRA intending to do more than secretarial work.

From Salon

Lyn Anne MacKinnon told the High Court in Edinburgh she heard what sounded like shots and then found her husband standing in the kitchen, before he collapsed into her arms.

From BBC

The paramilitary RSF, led by general Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been at war with Sudan’s regular army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since April 2023 when the two former allies took up arms against each other in a ferocious power struggle.

From BBC

French military technology is being used in Sudan's brutal civil war in violation of a UN arms embargo, rights organisation Amnesty International has said.

From BBC

"If France cannot guarantee through export controls, including end user certification, that arms will not be re-exported to Sudan, it should not authorise those transfers," it said.

From BBC