Weapon

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Weapon \Weap"on\ (w[e^]p"[u^]n; 277), n. [OE. wepen, AS.
     w[=ae]pen; akin to OS. w[=a]pan, OFries. w[=e]pin, w[=e]pen,
     D. wapen, G. waffe, OHG. waffan, w[=a]fan, Icel. v[=a]pn,
     Dan. vaaben, Sw. vapen, Goth. w[=e]pna, pl.; of uncertain
     origin. Cf. {Wapentake}.]
     [1913 Webster]


     1. An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something
        to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in
        destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a
        sword, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. --2 Cor.
                                                    x. 4.
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              They, astonished, all resistance lost,
              All courage; down their idle weapons dropped.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Fig.: The means or instrument with which one contends
        against another; as, argument was his only weapon.
        "Woman's weapons, water drops." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Bot.) A thorn, prickle, or sting with which many plants
        are furnished.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Concealed weapons}. See under {Concealed}.
  
     {Weapon salve}, a salve which was supposed to cure a wound by
        being applied to the weapon that made it. [Obs.] --Boyle.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  weapon
       n 1: any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or
            hunting; "he was licensed to carry a weapon" [syn: {arm},
             {weapon system}]
       2: a means of persuading or arguing; "he used all his
          conversational weapons" [syn: {artillery}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  23 Moby Thesaurus words for "weapon":
     A-weapons, armament, arms, biological weapons,
     conventional weapons, cutting edge, deadly weapons, edge,
     edge tool, featheredge, instruments of destruction, knife-edge,
     missilery, munitions, musketry, nuclear weapons, ordnance,
     razor-edge, side arms, small arms, thermonuclear weapons, weaponry,
     weapons