armor

[ahr-mer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR armor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any covering worn as a defense against weapons.

a suit of armor.

a metallic sheathing or protective covering, especially metal plates, used on warships, armored vehicles, airplanes, and fortifications.

mechanized units of military forces, as armored divisions.

Also called armament. any protective covering, as on certain animals, insects, or plants.

any quality, characteristic, situation, or thing that serves as protection: A chilling courtesy was his only armor.

the outer, protective wrapping of metal, usually fine, braided steel wires, on a cable.

verb (used with object)

to cover or equip with armor or armor plate.

Also especially British, ar·mour.

Origin of armor

1250–1300; Middle English armo(u)r, armure < Anglo-French armour(e), armure Old French armëure < Latin armātūra armature; assimilated, in Middle English and Anglo-French, to nouns ending in -our -or²

Related formsar·mor·less, adjectivean·ti·ar·mor, adjectivesub·ar·mor, noun

Can be confusedamour armoire armor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for armor

shield, plate, defense, guard, protection, mail, sheath, security

Examples from the Web for armor

Contemporary Examples of armor

And he would especially like American FGM-148 Javelins, man-portable anti-tank missiles to hit at Russian armor.
Should the U.S. Arm Ukraine’s Militias?
Jamie Dettmer
November 24, 2014
This would seem reasonable, since in that direction lay the only territory open enough for swift attack by armor.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day
James Jones
November 15, 2014
Russian ground forces, including infantry and armor units, are being permanently stationed in key areas.
Russia Preps Its North Pole Invasion
Dave Majumdar
November 8, 2014
As a kid, you'd admired pictures of knights in burnished suits of armor.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq
Nathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
A similar pattern occurred when metal swords, armor, cavalry charges and dense infantry ranks developed.
War! What Is It Good For? A Lot
Nick Romeo
August 13, 2014

Historical Examples of armor

But when they sat at meals, loosening their armor buckles, then there would be news.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
Ah, the truthful glass betrayed the weak point in her armor—the boots.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
I, who wear no armor, will go as far as any one with breastplate of mail.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II
Charlotte Mary Yonge
The general aspect of the Rhinoceros is that of a hog in armor on a grand scale.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 15, July 9, 1870
Various
He is fitted for his vocation; he has watched all night by his armor.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier

British Dictionary definitions for armor

armor

noun

the US spelling of 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

Word Origin and History for armor

c.1300, "mail, defensive covering worn in combat," also "means of protection," from Old French armeure "weapons, armor" (12c.), from Latin armatura "arms, equipment," from arma "arms, gear" (see arm (n.2)). Figurative use from mid-14c.

Meaning "military equipment generally," especially siege engines, is late 14c. The word might have died with jousting if not for late 19c. transference to metal-shielded machinery beginning with U.S. Civil War ironclads (first attested in this sense in an 1855 report from the U.S. Congressional Committee on Naval Affairs).

mid-15c., from armor (n.). Related: Armored; armoring.

Idioms and Phrases with armor

armor

see chink in one's armor; knight in shining armor.