Armfuls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A quantity of arms or weapons carried together
2. The act of gathering or collecting numerous items or components in one's embrace
3. A substantial amount of support or assistance provided collectively, often in a physical or metaphorical sense

Etymology: "Armfuls" is simply the plural of "armful", so the word's history is that of "armful" itself: a plain compound from "arm" and the suffix "-ful", which forms nouns meaning as much as can be held by whatever comes before it. An armful is therefore the amount that fills the arms, and the same suffix gives us handful, mouthful and spoonful. The meaning in the definition, a quantity of arms or weapons, is a figurative extension of that physical sense. Where a single armful is what a person's arms can hold, "armfuls" in the plural means several such loads, and the sense of a body of weapons carried together is a metaphorical stretch from the same picture of things gathered up in the arms.

Synonyms: bundles, loads, heaps, bunches