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View synonyms for arms

arms

/ ɑːmz /

plural noun

  1. weapons collectively See also small arms
  2. military exploits

    prowess in arms

  3. the official heraldic symbols of a family, state, etc, including a shield with distinctive devices, and often supports, a crest, or other insignia
  4. bear arms
    1. to carry weapons
    2. to serve in the armed forces
    3. to have a coat of arms
  5. in arms or under arms
    armed and prepared for war
  6. lay down one's arms
    to stop fighting; surrender
  7. present arms
    military
    1. a position of salute in which the rifle is brought up to a position vertically in line with the body, muzzle uppermost and trigger guard to the fore
    2. the command for this drill
  8. take arms or take up arms
    to prepare to fight
  9. to arms!
    arm yourselves!
  10. up in arms
    indignant; prepared to protest strongly
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of arms1

C13: from Old French armes, from Latin arma; see arm ²
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Example Sentences

There are parks filled with men pushing strollers and coffee shops where fathers meet their friends, babes in arms.

After the captain made the call to abandon ship, 150 people were able to escape on lifeboats lowered by electronic arms.

At the beginning of the video and before the call to kill police, you can hear what sounds like, “arms up, shoot back!”

Some of the slogans used that night—including “arms up, shoot back!”

With help, he got to his feet, and when she hugged him he lifted his arms slightly as if to return the hug.

However, on reaching Spain, the magic of the Emperor's personality soon restored the vigour and prestige of the French arms.

One would not have wanted her white neck a mite less full or her beautiful arms more slender.

The two little Pontelliers were with him, and he carried Madame Ratignolle's little girl in his arms.

He stood, with the air of a hero, both arms extended towards the amazed pair of lovers.

She threw out her arms as if swimming when she walked, beating the tall grass as one strikes out in the water.

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About This Word

What else does arms mean?

Arms, of course, are the upper limbs of the body. It’s also a term for weapons, especially guns (firearms).

Where does arms come from?

The word arm, as in the body part, is a very old word in English; it’s recorded in Old English and comes from Germanic roots. Arms as in “weapons,” comes from the Latin arma, “tools of war,” which passed into English from French in the 1200s.  

In the Middle Ages, arms referred to various weapons (e.g., bows and arrows, catapults) and equipment of war, including defensive shields and armor. Today, arms for weaponry can sound a little dated, except for expressions like arms race, first used in the 1920s for the competitive buildup of weapons between nations (then nuclear arms race) and later extended as a metaphor for any competition. 

Another common arms-related expression is to take (up) arms, “to prepare for a (literal or figurative) fight.” Shakespeare’s Hamlet used the phrase in the famous “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,|
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep;
No more …

The opposite expression, and just as familiar, expression is to lay down arms, or “surrender” or “stop fighting.” This is also used in reference to actual or imaginary combat.

By the late 1600s, the word arms was narrowing to its current sense of firearms, such as pistols and rifles. These arms are at the center of the much debated language of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

A coat of arms was originally a type of outerwear that medieval knights wore in battle. They bore heraldic symbols representing who they were and who they were fighting for. Families and organizations later adopted these emblems as crests.

To be up in arms, which dates back to the late 16th century, means “ready to fight” and later, “very upset.”

How is arms used in real life?

On its own, arms for “weapons” sounds more formal, showing up in more historical texts and legal contexts. Expect to hear arms, though, in the discussion of gun rights in the U.S. surrounding the Second Amendment.

Also expect to hear arms in its related verbal form, to arm, “equip with a weapon,” (e.g., if a cop yells “He’s armed and dangerous!”). Armed, here, usually means carrying a gun.

More examples of arms:

“March on, march on, since we are up in arms;
If not to fight with foreign enemies,
Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.”
—William Shakespeare, Richard III, 1592–93

“China joins Russia in signaling it will veto any US resolution to extend arms embargo on Iran & resist snapback.”
—@farnazfassihi, May 2020

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.

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armrestArms and the Man