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armour

1 American  
[ahr-mer] / ˈɑr mər /

noun

Chiefly British.
  1. armor.


Armour 2 American  
[ahr-mer] / ˈɑr mər /

noun

  1. Philip Danforth 1832–1901, U.S. meat-packing industrialist.


armour British  
/ ˈɑːmə /

noun

  1. any defensive covering, esp that of metal, chain mail, etc, worn by medieval warriors to prevent injury to the body in battle

  2. the protective metal plates on a tank, warship, etc

  3. military armoured fighting vehicles in general; military units equipped with these

  4. any protective covering, such as the shell of certain animals

  5. nautical the watertight suit of a diver

  6. engineering permanent protection for an underwater structure

  7. heraldic insignia; arms

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to equip or cover with armour

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

See -our.

Etymology

Origin of armour

C13: from Old French armure, from Latin armātūra armour, equipment

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It's hard going at first - the altitude and our body armour making it difficult to breath.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

Both Héctor and Julio were wearing body armour, 14kg of Kevlar and armour plate.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

Some teenagers have grown a kind of emotional armour.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

"I had a lot of armour and it wasn't easily pierced," she says.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2025

All Lancelot’s muscles made an empathic sortie towards the feeling of his own armour, which he had not seen since he left Camelot.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White