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.