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lightly-armed

lightly-armed

3 5.3
With only small weapons and no heavy guns
  • adjective
  • /ˈlaɪtli ɑrmd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ligeramente armado
  • Despite being lightly-armed, the defenders managed to hold their ground against the larger enemy force.
  • lightly-armed troops
  • lightly-armed opposition
  • lightly-armed forces

Holy shit, I said to the Colonel, if they realize how lightly armed we are, we're dead.

Examples

  • As a result, peacekeepers are only lightly armed, solely for emergency use in self-defense or for the defense of peacekeeping positions should those come under attack.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The night of the Benghazi attack, four lightly armed Libyans and five American security officers were on duty.

    Blog text (11)
  • It was small, slow, and lightly armed.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Lightly armed opposition troops would stand little chance in open combat against these forces, especially the Republican Guard.

    Academic text (1999)
  • There is no good reason for sending lightly trained, lightly armed fighters into the Syrian theater.

    Academic text (2015)
  • So, General Kagame believes that our force or 2300 lightly armed men should attack a heavily armed force of 32,000?

  • Indeed, the reason the Israelis were surprised in Lebanon was that they had gotten used to fighting lightly armed and helpless opponents.

    Blog text (19)
  • The United States would have to stop periodic counterattacks by Iraqi heavy divisions against the lightly armed opposition formations.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The Security Council must reconsider the deployment of lightly armed U.N. peacekeeping forces into civil wars, a function not foreseen by the U.N. Charter.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The aircraft sounds died off in the night, and the battalion was marooned in the wilderness, a small lightly armed parachute force, meat for any armored attack.

    Fiction book (1993)

Synonyms

armed
vslightly-armed
986 2.7

Carrying weapons for attack or protection

focuses on having only light weapons rather than heavier ones
light-armed
vslightly-armed
  • Specialized
6.7

Soldiers who carry small, simple weapons and wear little armor

is a general term for being equipped only with light weapons

How Armed

armed to the teeth
  • Informal
9 5.6
armed
986 2.7
lightly-armed
  • Specialized
3 5.3
unarmed
163 2.7

Surface Forms

lightly-armed positive

Morphology

lightly-armed = lightly + armed (transparent) = lightly + armed

Clearly formed by the adverb 'lightly' modifying 'armed' so the meaning is directly derived: armed to a light degree.

Etymology

Lightly-armed is a simple compound of light (meaning 'not heavy') and armed, from arm meaning 'weapon' or 'to give a weapon'. So lightly-armed means 'carrying only small or few weapons', which is why such people or units often move faster and avoid heavy fighting.