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Armor; whatever is worn or used for the protection and defense of the body, esp. the protective outfit of some animals and plants.

Furnished with weapons of offense or defense; furnished with the means of security or protection. "And armed host." Dryden.

Instruments or weapons of offense or defense. He lays down his arms, but not his wiles. Milton. Three horses and three goodly suits of arms. Tennyson.

, or maneuvers; and (3) one or more classes of soldiers organized largely for territorial defense, living at home and having only occasional periods of drill and instraction, who are variously called home reserves (as in the table below), second, third, etc., line of defense (the regular army and its reserves ordinaril…

kill, by surprise or secret assault; one who treacherously murders any one unprepared for defense.

t of attacking, or falling on with force or violence; an onset; an assault; -- opposed to defense.

A post of security or defense. [Poetic] Into the castle's tower, The only Aventine that now is left him. Beau. & Fl.

Upholding; defense; vindication. [Obs.] Can my avowance of king-murdering be collected from anything here written by me Fuller.

A line of palisades serving as an exterior defense. [Written also bayle.] [Obs.]

reason against; to prevent. -- Matter in bar, or Defence in bar, a plea which is a final defense in an action. -- Plea in bar, a plea which goes to bar or defeat the plaintiff's action absolutely and entirely. -- Trial at bar (Eng. Law), a trial before all the judges of one the superior courts of Westminster, or bef…

Any bar, obstruction, or means of defense. Such a barricade as would greatly annoy, or absolutely stop, the currents of the atmosphere. Derham.

A small, overhanging structure for lookout or defense, usually projecting at an angle of a building or near an entrance gateway.

A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place. The high bastiles . . . which overtopped the walls. Holland.

Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense.

the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.

Advantage; favor; stead; benefit; interest; profit; support; defense; vindication. In behalf of his mistress's beauty. Sir P. Sidney. Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation. Clarendon. In behalf of, in the interest of. -- On behalf of, on account of; on the part of.

A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense.

An edifice or structure of heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all direction…

in. "Bluff King Hal." Sir W. Scott. There is indeed a bluff pertinacity which is a proper defense in a moment of surprise. I. Taylor.

That which secures against an enemy, or defends from attack; any means of defense or protection. The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defense, . . . the floating bulwark of our island. Blackstone.