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A fleet of armed ships; a squadron. Specifically, the Spanish fleet which was sent to assail England, a. d. 1558.

the foot. Halliwell. Bred to arms, educated to the profession of a soldier. -- In arms, armed for war; in a state of hostility. -- Small arms, portable firearms known as muskets, rifles, carbines, pistols, etc. -- A stand of arms, a complete set for one soldier, as a musket, bayonet, cartridge box and belt; frequen…

A collection or body of men armed for war, esp. one organized in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions, under proper officers.

The system by which a country raises, classifies, arranges, and equips its armed land forces. The usual divisions are: (1) A regular or active army, in which soldiers serve continuously with the colors and live in barracks or cantonments when not in the field; (2) the reserves of this army, in which the soldiers, while…

A soldier armed with an arquebus. Soldiers armed with guns, of whatsoever sort or denomination, appear to have been called arquebusiers. E. Lodge.

To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces. Insnared, assaulted, overcome, led bound. Milton.

vices adapted to it, it is used for the automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed artificially, and as a fire alarm. -- Balance of torsion. See Torsion Balance. -- Balance of trade (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the money values of the exports and imports of a country; or more commonly, the amount…

A company of persons united in any common design, especially a body of armed men. Troops of horsemen with his bands of foot. Shak.

arbs; as, a barbed arrow; barbed wire. Barbed wire, a wire, or a strand of twisted wires, armed with barbs or sharp points. It is used for fences.

An armor-plated man-of-war built of steel and heavily armed, generally having from ten thousand to fifteen thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to meet the heaviest ships in line of battle.

A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, in order to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.

The bur marigold (Bidens) and its achenes, which are armed with barbed awns, and adhere to clothing and fleeces with unpleasant tenacity.

To beset or surround with armed forces, for the purpose of compelling to surrender; to lay siege to; to beleaguer; to beset. Till Paris was besieged, famished, and lost. Shak.

A piece of thick plank, armed with iron plates, and fixed on the bow or fore channels of a vessel, for the bill or fluke of the anchor to rest on. Totten.

One who uses, or is armed with, a bill or hooked ax. "A billman of the guard." Savile.

ve; to brandish. [Obs.] And burning blades about their heads do bless. Spenser. Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest. Fairfax.

A light-armed, irregular foot soldier. [Obs.]

protect them; hence, to sit quietly, as if brooding. Birds of calm sir brooding on the charmed wave. Milton.

a mortar; to bray, as minerals, roots, etc.; to crush. Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs. Shak.

A contorted expression, as of the face. [R.] 'Gainst nature armed by gravity, His features too in buckle see. Churchill.