armory

noun

ar·​mory ˈärm-rē 

ˈär-mə-

plural armories

1

a

: a supply of arms for defense or attack

b

: a collection of available resources

2

: a place where arms and military equipment are stored

especially : one used for training reserve military personnel

3

: a place where arms are manufactured

Did you know?

An armory has traditionally been a military storage compound where machine guns, rifles, pistols, ammunition, parts, and accessories are kept. In the U.S., National Guard and Reserve units often use armories as training headquarters in peacetime. Ever since George Washington established the country's first armory in Springfield in 1777, arsenals and armories of the Army Ordnance Corps have had a remarkable history of arms manufacture.

Synonyms

• arsenal
• depot
• dump
• magazine

Examples of armory in a Sentence

the site of a 19th-century armory

the soldier was sent to the armory to get a replacement weapon for the one that had been stolen

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s nowhere clearer than in the climactic final confrontation between Noa and Proximus Caesar’s brute in command, an imposing gorilla named Sylva (Eka Darville), which takes place within a gargantuan armory that’s flooding quickly around them. —Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024

According to a history of the armory published by the McDaniel Free Press on Dec. 5, 2016; by 1980 a new armory was built on Hahn Road and the City of Westminster began leasing the building. —Kevin Dayhoff, Baltimore Sun, 16 Nov. 2024

No one seems to know when the local American Legion Post began holding services for Armistice Day — Veterans Day or when the annual ceremony was first held at the armory. —Kevin Dayhoff, Baltimore Sun, 16 Nov. 2024

The kibbutz’s rapid response team had only four rifles available to defend against heavily armed terrorists; the Israel Defense Forces had removed other weapons from the armory for fear of theft. —Yaakov Lappin, Sun Sentinel, 2 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English armerie, armurie, armorye "armor and weapons, storehouse for weaponry, workshop in which weapons are made or repaired," borrowed from Anglo-French armurrie, from armure "arms, armor" + -ie -y entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

armory

noun

ar·​mory ˈärm-(ə-)rē 

plural armories

1

: a supply of weapons

2

: a place where arms are kept and where soldiers are often trained

3

: a place where arms are made