From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Weapon \Weap"on\ (w[e^]p"[u^]n; 277), noun [OE. wepen, AS. w[=ae]pen; akin to OS. w[=a]pan, OFries. w[=e]pin, w[=e]pen, D. wapen, G. waffe, OHG. waffan, w[=a]fan, Icel. v[=a]pn, Dan. vaaben, Sw. vapen, Goth. w[=e]pna, pl.; of uncertain origin. Cf. {Wapentake}.]
1. An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a sword, etc.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. --2 Cor. x. 4.
They, astonished, all resistance lost, All courage; down their idle weapons dropped. --Milton.
2. Fig.: The means or instrument with which one contends against another; as, argument was his only weapon. ''Woman's weapons, water drops.'' --Shak.
3. (Bot.) A thorn, prickle, or sting with which many plants are furnished.
{Concealed weapons}. See under {Concealed}.
{Weapon salve}, a salve which was supposed to cure a wound by being applied to the weapon that made it. [Obs.] --Boyle.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting; "he was licensed to carry a weapon" [syn: {arm}, {weapon system}]
2: a means of persuading or arguing; "he used all his conversational weapons" [syn: {artillery}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
23 Moby Thesaurus words for "weapon": A-weapons, armament, arms, biological weapons, conventional weapons, cutting edge, deadly weapons, edge, edge tool, featheredge, instruments of destruction, knife-edge, missilery, munitions, musketry, nuclear weapons, ordnance, razor-edge, side arms, small arms, thermonuclear weapons, weaponry, weapons
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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