▪ I. armed, ppl. a.1
(ɑːmd, ˈɑːmɪd)
[f. arm v.1]
1. lit. Furnished with arms or armour; fully equipped for war. In intensive phr. ‘Armed to the teeth.’ In armed demonstration, armed neutrality, it refers to the persons or power making the demonstration or remaining neutral. armed camp, used of any territory regarded as fully armed ready for war.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 386 Þe knyȝtes wel yarmed wende hem out anon. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 96 Armyt clenly at fut and hand. c 1425 Seven Sages (P.) 1417 Armyd men by nyght thare ȝede. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 12 A faithlesse Sarazin, all armde to point. 1695 Anc. Const. Eng. 37 Who had the armed Force of the Nation on his side. 1695 Lond. Gaz. mmmcii/3 Half Galleys and other Armed Boats. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. 323 The caprice of an armed multitude. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 329 An armed ship of ten guns. 1849 Cobden Speeches 12 Is there any reason why we should be armed to the teeth. 1864 Bramwell in Morn. Star 12 Jan., By ‘armed,’ I suppose it would be meant ordinarily that she had cannon, but if she had a fighting crew, muskets, pistols, powder, shot, cutlasses, and boarding appliances, she might be well said to be equipped for warlike purposes, though not armed. |
| 1861 M. B. Chesnut Diary 15 Aug. (1949) 111 This appalling picture of New York as an *armed camp. 1898 Daily News 6 Oct. 5/7 The armed camp, which we call the continent. |
| 1876 Green Short Hist. iii. §7. 150 *An armed demonstration drove them in flight over sea. |
| 1780 J. Adams Let. 2 May in F. Wharton Revol. Diplom. Corr. (1889) III. 646 The invitation of the Empress of Russia to accede to an *armed neutrality. c 1803 Foster Corr. 42 (1846) I. 242 Social decorum is a kind of armed neutrality. 1827 [see neutrality 1]. 1906 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 462 Pragmatism, according to Papini, is thus only a collection of attitudes and methods, and its chief characteristic is its armed neutrality in the midst of doctrines. |
2. transf. and
fig. a. Of persons: Furnished, fortified, provided, ready.
| c 1585 Pilkington Wks. (1841) 444 A man forewarned is half armed. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 22 If you are arm'd to doe, as sworne to do. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. i. i. 94 He's armed without that's innocent within. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. ix, A Defender of Property..armed with the terrors of the law. |
b. Of animals: Furnished with horns, teeth, etc., or protected by natural mail.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 102 The Lyons armed Iawes. 1605 ― Macb. iii. iv. 101 The arm'd Rhinoceros, or th' Hircan Tiger. 1803 G. Shaw Zool. IV. 373 Armed Chætodon..Native of the Indian seas. 1859 Owen Classif. Mamm. 76 Formidably armed jaws. |
c. Of plants: Furnished with thorns, prickles, etc.
| 1875 Buckland Log-Bk. 45 A seed literally armed with formidable claws. |
d. Of things: Furnished, plated, cased, tipped, with anything that gives strength or efficiency, or fits for a purpose.
armed eye: one provided with a magnifying glass.
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres i. i. 4 The strength of the Battaile is the armed Pike. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. vii. 83 Wounded steeds..Yerke out their armed heeles at their dead masters. 1711 Pope Rape Lock ii. 120 Tho' stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale. 1816 Coleridge Lay Serm. 319 The fixed stars, which appear of the same size to the naked as to the armed eye. 1853 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun §6. 12 With her armed finger (ay, by the way, I forgot the thimble). 1858 J. Mansfield in Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 20 The armed lead would have shown him that..he was deviating from his..course. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. xvi. 261 The lead is armed, that is to say, the bottom of the weight..is covered with tallow. |
3. Of a magnet: Furnished with an armature.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 176 We took a very good arm'd Loadstone. 1730 Savery in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 309 That an armed Loadstone can lift more. 1831 Brewster Optics x. 93 An armed natural loadstone. |
4. Adorned with heraldic devices; blazoned.
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 183 Tombes..Of armede alabaustre. |
5. Her. Having the claws or talons painted of a different tincture from that of adjoining parts.
Also, represented with claws, teeth, horns, etc.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 44 A Lyon Passante, Gules, armed, and langued d'Azure. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry i. v. 59 Membred doth signify the legs, and Armed doth imploy the Bill and Claws. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 259 Armed, as Heraulds cant, and langued, Or, as the Vulgar say, sharp fanged. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 238 An eagle..sable, armed and membered, or. 1866 Cussans Gram. Heraldry 29 A lion is armed of its teeth and claws, and ‘langued’ of its tongue. |
▪ II. armed, ppl. a.2 [f. arm n.1 + -ed2.] Having arms; fitted with arms. (Chiefly in
comb., as
long-armed; and in
armed-chair: see
arm-chair.)
| a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. (in Webster) Her shoulders broad and long, armed long and round. 1791 Cowper Iliad v. 896 Juno the white-arm'd. 1878 Gurney Crystallog. 27 An equal-armed cross. |