armed
1 Americanadjective
adjective
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bearing firearms; having weapons.
a heavily armed patrol.
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maintained by arms.
armed peace.
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involving the use of weapons.
armed conflict.
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equipped.
The students came armed with their pocket calculators.
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(especially of an animal) covered protectively, as by a shell.
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fortified; made secure.
Armed by an inveterate optimism, he withstood despair.
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(of an artillery shell, bomb, missile, etc.) having the fuze made operative.
adjective
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equipped with or supported by arms, armour, etc
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prepared for conflict or any difficulty
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(of an explosive device) prepared for use; having a fuse or detonator installed
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(of plants) having the protection of thorns, spines, etc
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of armed1
First recorded in 1500–10; arm 1 ( def. ) + -ed 3 ( def. )
Origin of armed2
First recorded in 1250–1300; arm 2, + -ed 2 ( def. )
Explanation
If you're armed, you are carrying some kind of weapon. Armed soldiers are most commonly supplied with guns. In the United States, police officers are almost always armed, while British police usually don't carry guns. When a crime involves the use of a weapon, it might be described as an armed robbery, and even an animal is sometimes said to be armed: "The cat was armed with sharp teeth and claws against the puppy's enthusiasm." The Latin root is arma, "weapons," or "tools of war."
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.
Armed Forces Day is unofficially held on the third Saturday of May to celebrate current service members.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
Armed with specialized gaming hardware, AI researchers continued to use games as a laboratory for developing advanced algorithms.
From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who is serving as the acting head of the service, didn’t mention the move in their Tuesday testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
Armed with a whiteboard and other visual aids in congressional hearings, she confronted banking and pharmaceutical executives over drug prices, consumer debt and corporate profits.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
Armed with the assurance that Markham would not squeal, I humbly wrote a long letter to Washington, outlining how I might profit from being in the joint presence of Perutz and Markham.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
