armour

¹ American  

[ahr-mer] / ˈɑr mər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. armor.

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Armour ² American  

[ahr-mer] / ˈɑr mər /

noun

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

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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

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verb

1. (tr) to equip or cover with armour

Usage

See -our.

Etymology

Origin of armour

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

Example Sentences

Jessie saying "night night" and giving a salute to an empty suit of armour on her way out of the castle one evening was perhaps the epitome of her brilliant eccentricity.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 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

The knight in shining armour, AKA Sir Stephen, was banished.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025

People have got it into their heads, through the cinema and the comic advertisements, that knights in armour generally wore ostrich plumes, nodding like stalks of pampas grass.

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