What is "to carry arms"

Carry \Car"ry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Carried; p. pr. & vb. n. Carrying.] [OF. carier, charier, F. carrier, to cart, from OF. car, char, F. car, car. See Car.]

1. To convey or transport in any manner from one place to another; to bear; -- often with away or off.

   When he dieth he shall carry nothing away.
   --Ps. xiix. 17.

   Devout men carried Stephen to his burial.
   --Acts viii,

2. Another carried the intelligence to Russell.
   --Macaulay.

   The sound will be carried, at the least, twenty miles.
   --Bacon.

   2. To have or hold as a burden, while moving from place to place; to have upon or about one's person; to bear; as, to carry a wound; to carry an unborn child.

   If the ideas . . . were carried along with us in our minds.
   --Locke.

3. To move; to convey by force; to impel; to conduct; to lead or guide.

   Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
   --Shak.

   He carried away all his cattle.
   --Gen. xxxi. 18.

   Passion and revenge will carry them too far.
   --Locke.

4. To transfer from one place (as a country, book, or column) to another; as, to carry the war from Greece into Asia; to carry an account to the ledger; to carry a number in adding figures.

5. To convey by extension or continuance; to extend; as, to carry the chimney through the roof; to carry a road ten miles farther.

6. To bear or uphold successfully through conflict, as a leader or principle; hence, to succeed in, as in a contest; to bring to a successful issue; to win; as, to carry an election. ``The greater part carries it.''
   --Shak.

   The carrying of our main point.
   --Addison.

7. To get possession of by force; to capture.

   The town would have been carried in the end.
   --Bacon.

8. To contain; to comprise; to bear the aspect of; to show or exhibit; to imply.

   He thought it carried something of argument in it.
   --Watts.

   It carries too great an imputation of ignorance.
   --Lacke.

9. To bear (one's self); to behave, to conduct or demean; -- with the reflexive pronouns.

   He carried himself so insolently in the house, and out of the house, to all persons, that he became odious.
   --Clarendon.

10. To bear the charges or burden of holding or having, as stocks, merchandise, etc., from one time to another; as, a merchant is carrying a large stock; a farm carries a mortgage; a broker carries stock for a customer; to carry a life insurance. Carry arms (Mil. Drill), a command of the Manual of Arms directing the soldier to hold his piece in the right hand, the barrel resting against the hollow of the shoulder in a nearly perpendicular position. In this position the soldier is said to stand, and the musket to be held, at carry. To carry all before one, to overcome all obstacles; to have uninterrupted success. To carry arms

    1. To bear weapons.

    2. To serve as a soldier. To carry away.

       1. (Naut.) to break off; to lose; as, to carry away a fore-topmast.

       2. To take possession of the mind; to charm; to delude; as, to be carried by music, or by temptation. To carry coals, to bear indignities tamely, a phrase used by early dramatists, perhaps from the mean nature of the occupation. --Halliwell. To carry coals to Newcastle, to take things to a place where they already abound; to lose one's labor. To carry off

          1. To remove to a distance.

          2. To bear away as from the power or grasp of others.

    3. To remove from life; as, the plague carried off thousands. To carry on

       1. To carry farther; to advance, or help forward; to continue; as, to carry on a design.

       2. To manage, conduct, or prosecute; as, to carry on husbandry or trade. To carry out.

          1. To bear from within.

          2. To put into execution; to bring to a successful issue.

       3. To sustain to the end; to continue to the end. To carry through.

          1. To convey through the midst of.

          2. To support to the end; to sustain, or keep from falling, or being subdued. ``Grace will carry us . . . through all difficulties.''
             --Hammond.

          3. To complete; to bring to a successful issue; to succeed. To carry up, to convey or extend in an upward course or direction; to build. To carry weight.

             1. To be handicapped; to have an extra burden, as when one rides or runs. ``He carries weight, he rides a race''
                --Cowper.

             2. To have influence.