Weapon

Weapon, any device used to attack or defend. Throughout human history, weapons have been used to kill animals for food, to protect people in wilderness, and to wage wars. Bows and arrows, slings, swords, blowguns, rifles, guns, bombs, torpedoes, and hand grenades are examples of weapons. As technology has become more sophisticated, destructive power has increased, e.g., nuclear bombs capable of killing millions of people and destroying the planet.