Weapons & War

Ammunition relates to anything needed for firing a weapon, such as the supply of bullets and any other supplies like priming powder. Ammunition can also be used to describe spent parts of the ammunition after the weapon has been fired.

Armour is a covering for a vehicle, animal or person that protects them from damage. Armour can be made from metal, leather, wire in the form of chainmail or even wood. Modern armour, such as flak jackets or bulletproof vests, are made from ballistic cloth.

An arrow is a projectile that is fired from a bow. Arrows have a pointed end that is used to pierce things.

An arrow is also any shape that looks like the arrow projectile. Arrows are used to point somewhere, or tell you which direction to go.

The axe, also spelt ax, is one of the oldest tools known to mankind. Axes have been used for thousands of years to split logs, cut down trees and shape wood.

Barbed wire, or barb wire, is a type of wire usually used for fencing that has twists of sharp wire along its length. Barbed wire is most often used on fences that keep livestock like cows and sheep from escaping. The sharp barbs on the wire will hurt anything that tries to climb over it.

Barbed wire is not just used to keep animals in or out. Barbed wire was used extensively during war time to protect soldiers, and is also used around prisons to keep the prisoners in.

A blade is the edge of a weapon like a knife or part of some machinery, like the blades of a fan. The blade on a knife is usually very sharp.

A bomb is a device that can be used to cause an explosion. Bombs can be small enough to carry or so big they need to be dropped from planes. They can do damage ranging from just making a flash and loud noise up to being able to destroy a city.

A boomerang is a curved piece of wood used that was originally used by Australian Aborigines as a weapon or for sport. If you throw a boomerang right, it will travel around in a loop and come back to you.

Other cultures outside of Australia have also developed boomerangs, but theirs do not return when you throw them.

A bow is a weapon that is used to fire arrows at a target. Someone who uses a bow and arrows is called an archer.

A bow can be used for hunting animals, target practise for sport, or as a weapon in war.

A bullet is a small, heavy, pointed object that is fired from a gun at high speed. Bullets are made mostly from lead coated in copper. The reason they are coated is because lead has a relatively low melting point, and in some guns the bullets come out of the gun so hot the lead melts. Copper has a higher melting point.

Bullets existed before guns, and were much rounder and made of lead or were just small round stones. They were used in slingshots.