"equipped for battle," early 13c., past-participle adjective from arm (v.).

1940s, Armed Forces slang, short for gunnery sergeant.

"the armed forces of Germany," 1935, from German Wehrmacht (name of the armed forces 1921-1945), from Wehr "defense" (from PIE root *wer- (4) "to cover") + Macht "might" (from PIE root *magh- "to be able, have power").

"a little bit," Korean War armed forces slang, from Japanese sukoshi "few, little, some."

"one who serves or has served in the armed forces," 1899, from service (n.) + man (n.).

"re-enlist," by 1906, U.S. armed forces slang, from re- "back, again" + up (v.) "enlist." Related: Re-upped; re-upping.

1844, with reference to armed forces; from volunteer + -ism. In reference to volunteer labor in community activities, by 1977.

"convict," 1956, from yard (n.1) + bird (n.1), from the notion of prison yards; earlier it meant "basic trainee" (World War II armed forces slang).

"gold in the form of a brick," 1853, from gold (adj.) + brick (n.). Meaning "shirker" is from 1914, World War I armed forces slang, from earlier verb meaning "to swindle, cheat" (1902) from the old con game of selling spurious "gold" bricks (attested by 1881).

1560s, "a fight," originally especially "a fight between two armed persons" (later distinguished as single combat, 1620s), also in a general sense of "any struggle or fight between opposing forces," from French combat (see combat (v.)).