Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking weapons or armor; defenseless.
  • adjective Not carrying, using, or displaying arms.
  • adjective Biology Having no thorns, spines, teeth, claws, or other protective parts.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not having on arms or armor; not equipped with arms or weapons.
  • Not furnished with scales, prickles, or other armature, as animals and plants; in entomology, noting parts destitute of projections, spines, points, etc., where such structures are commonly found: as, unarmed tibiæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not armed or armored; having no arms or weapons.
  • adjective (Nat. Hist.) Having no hard and sharp projections, as spines, prickles, spurs, claws, etc.
  • adjective Not in a state in which it may be detonated; unable to be detonated; -- used of nuclear and certain other explosive devices, which, as a safety precaution, are stored and transported in a state in which normal triggering mechanisms will not function to cause the device to detonate. The weapon must first be armed by a separate action, and only subsequent to such arming will the weapon be able to detonate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective defenceless and lacking weapons or armour
  • adjective not carrying arms
  • adjective biology not having thorns or claws etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (used of plants or animals) lacking barbs or stings or thorns
  • adjective (used of persons or the military) not having or using arms

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ armed

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Examples

  • I also expect that anyone who regards a firearm as suitable mitigation methods ought to at least have minimal training in unarmed self defense and trauma first aid.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » NRA Convention report 2010

  • In the sport, two men would face each other – naked – and battle in unarmed combat.

    Five Sports Too Violent For Prime Time | myFiveBest 2010

  • I question the use of “hyperrealistic” to describe “severing heads and limbs” in unarmed combat — but the movements are, or can be, hyperrealistic.

    Nabi Studios « Isegoria 2008

  • Shelley notes twice this dual citizenship, both times pointing out that the soldiers are men and Englishmen: "In the first place, the soldiers are men and Englishmen, and it is not to be believed that they would massacre an unresisting multitude of their countrymen drawn up in unarmed array before them and bearing in their looks the calm, deliberate resolution to perish rather than abandon the assertion of their rights" (257).

    'A nation or a world': Patriotism in Shelley 2006

  • You don't go behind enemy lines and walk in unarmed or without a clue as to the agenda in place to make you look bad/weak/dishonest.

    Roger Ailes Shows His Fair and Balanced Favoritism 2006

  • The Prophet trilogy strives to reconcile the materialist conception of history with the importance of the "great man," and though the trope of prophecy armed and unarmed is taken from the sixth chapter of Machiavelli's The Prince, it would be a dull ear that did not also detect the cadences of the Pentateuch.

    The Old Man 2004

  • The Prophet trilogy strives to reconcile the materialist conception of history with the importance of the "great man," and though the trope of prophecy armed and unarmed is taken from the sixth chapter of Machiavelli's The Prince, it would be a dull ear that did not also detect the cadences of the Pentateuch.

    The Old Man 2004

  • A Raven FAC needed a fighter pilot's experience and mentality, but was obliged to fly slow and low in unarmed and vulnerable aircraft such as the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog or a U-17, a standard

    Jackson, Paul V. III "Skip" 1990

  • A Raven FAC needed a fighter pilot's experience and mentality, but was obliged to fly slow and low in unarmed and vulnerable aircraft such as the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog or a U-17, a standard

    Riess, Charles F. 1990

  • It was felt to be natural that the natives should resent the occupation of their hunting grounds; and although they were shot down without mercy in fair fight, or if overtaken while carrying off cattle, there was no active feeling of animosity against them; and they were generally kindly treated, when they called unarmed at the stations, and asked for food.

    A Final Reckoning A Tale of Bush Life in Australia 1867

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