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

2. (n.) A piece of soft iron used to connect the two poles of a magnet, or electro-magnet, in order to complete the circuit, or to receive and apply the magnetic force. In the ordinary horseshoe magnet, it serves to prevent the dissipation of the magnetic force.

3. (n.) Iron bars or framing employed for the consolidation of a building, as in sustaining slender columns, holding up canopies, etc.

Philistinism aegis armament armature armor plate bard beaver body armor brassard breastplate buckler bulletproof vest callosity callousness callus chain armor chain mail chitin cloak coat of mail coif corselet cortex cover cuirass elytron episperm flintiness formidable defenses gas mask gauntlet guard habergeon hard heart hard shell hardenedness hardheartedness hardness hardness of heart harness hauberk headpiece heart of stone helm helmet imperviousness induration insensitiveness insensitivity inuredness jamb lorica lorication mail mantle nasal needles obduracy obdurateness panoply pericarp plate plate armor protection protective covering rhinoceros hide rondel safeguard screen scute scutum security shell shelter shield shroud spines stoniness suit of armor test testa thick skin veil visor ward