arming

noun6

1. •
   The act of supplying (oneself or others) with armor and (now especially) arms and ammunition in preparation for a conflict; the act of providing with the means of defense and attack.

   • The arming was now universal. — 1849
2. •
   [in compounds] The affixing and securing on of armor.

   • […] two tunicles and a gambeson, each with a border of the arms of France; […] a quantity of aiguilletes and laces for arming; six bascinets; a gamboised thigh-piece, and an esquivalens of leather[…] — 1819
3. •
   The act of supplying with the equipment, knowledge, authority, or other tools needed for a particular task.

   • The novelty largely consists in the arming of such subordinate officials of the statutory court with the new magic wand of the record book and of spoken English;[…] — 1956
4. •
   The act of preparing a tool or a weapon for action; activation.

   • This insures the arming of the fuze when fired. — 1917
5. •
   A piece of tallow or soap put in the cavity and over the bottom of a sounding lead to pick up samples of the bottom of the sea.

   • the nature of the sea bed indicated by the arming in the cavity at the base[…] — 2011
6. •
   [in the plural] One of the red dress cloths formerly hung fore and aft outside of a ship's upper works on holidays, or used as a visual screen during times of action.