passage of arms

English

Alternative forms

• passage at arms

Etymology

From French.

Noun

passage of arms (plural passages of arms)

1. A chivalric feat of arms involving the forcing of a passage protected by a knight or a group of knights.
2. Any feat of arms, especially when used to display the prowess of the participants.
3. A fight; (figuratively), an argument or verbal altercation.
   • 1852, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in Bleak House:

     [S]he is the high standard of comparison among the neighbouring wives […] , who in any domestic passages of arms habitually call upon their husbands to look at the difference between their position and Mrs. Snagsby’s […] .

   • 1944, Iris Origo, War in Val d'Orcia, Pushkin Press 2017, p. 259:

     The lieutenant in charge of the traffic is a rude little bully, and Antonio has a passage at arms with him.

Coordinate terms

• hastilude

Further reading

• “passage of arms”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.