small arm

noun

Usually small arms. a firearm designed to be held in one or both hands while being fired: in the U.S. the term is applied to weapons of a caliber of up to one inch (2.5 cm).

Nearby words

smackeroo, smackhead, smacking, small, small advertisement, small arm, small arms, small beer, small business administration, small calorie, small cane

Origin of small arm

First recorded in 1680–90

Related forms

small-armed, adjective

Examples from the Web for small arm

The bore is made of any rifle calibre for any small-arm ammunition, and is fitted with a safety-lock.
The Romance of Modern Invention|Archibald Williams
The little three-pounders, as you know, have their venomous shell and charge together like small-arm ammunition.
A Fleet in Being|Rudyard Kipling
I was being bombarded incessantly, and since the morning had been severely harassed by small-arm fire.
Three Years' War|Christiaan Rudolf de Wet
From the hold came boxes of small-arm ammunition of Mausers, rifles, machetes, and saddles.
The Red Cross Girl|Richard Harding Davis