Ord"nance (?), n. [From OE. ordenance, referring orig. to the bore or size of the cannon. See Ordinance.]

Heavy weapons of warfare; cannon, or great guns, mortars, and howitzers; artillery; sometimes, a general term for all weapons and appliances used in war.

All the battlements their ordnance fire. Shak.

Then you may hear afar off the awful roar of his [Rufus Choate's] rifled ordnance. E. Ererett.

Ordnance survey, the official survey of Great Britain and Ireland, conducted by the ordnance department.

 

© Webster 1913.

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