armor

[ ahr-mer ]

/ ˈɑr mər /

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.

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for armoured

The armoured plates on the undamaged places on bombers, cut down losses by something like 30 per cent.
Peter Worthington on Thinking Outside the Box|David Frum|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
French troops in armoured personnel carriers rolled through the streets of Kidal in northern Mali on Wednesday.
No Quick Fix For Mali: French Troops Can’t End Crisis|William Lloyd George|January 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In the straggling line battleships and cruisers, armoured and unarmoured, were mingled together.
Famous Sea Fights|John Richard Hale
In the centre were the two little battleships, with the armoured cruisers, "Lai-yuen" and "King-yuen," to right and left of them.
Famous Sea Fights|John Richard Hale

No man fought an armoured motor car more gallantly and successfully than Commander Sampson, the famous airman.
The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10)|James Edward Parrott
I took advantage of his escort to carry out a long-cherished desire to see the wreck of the armoured train at Kraipann.
South African Memories|Lady Sarah Wilson
It had been one of the tenets of war that armoured ships were more than a match for shore batteries.
Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.|Percy F. Westerman

British Dictionary definitions for armoured

armoured

US armored

/ (ˈɑːməd) /

adjective

having a protective covering, such as armour or bone

comprising units making use of armoured vehiclesan armoured brigade

(of glass) toughened

armor

/ (ˈɑːmə) /

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 armoured

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).

armor

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

Idioms and Phrases with armoured

armor

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