wambais Obs. exc. Hist.
Also wambas, -us.
[a. OF. wambais: see gambeson. Cf. wamus.]
= gambeson.
| [1181 Assize of Arms in Bened. Peterb. Chron. (Rolls) I. 278 Omnes burgenses..habeant wambais et capellet ferri et lanceam.] 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. I. ix. 196 All burgesses were to have..a wambais; that is, a coat quilted with wool, tow, or such-like materials. 1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry (1846) 189 It will be best to present him just as he is in his brogues and wambus. 1821 Meyrick & C. H. Smith Costume Orig. Inhab. 58 The [Danish] king is habited in a corslet of leather (wambas) passing over his rock or tunic. This wambas was of painted elk or stag-skin, and was a kind of half armour. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1897) I. xiii. 633 The Assize of Arms in 1181..directed that..all burghers..[must possess] a wambais, head-piece, and lance. |