Obs. exc. Hist. Also wambas, -us. [a. OF. wambais: see GAMBESON. Cf. WAMUS.] = GAMBESON.
[1181. Assize of Arms, in Bened. Peterb. Chron. (Rolls), I. 278. Omnes burgenses … habeant wambais et capellet ferri et lanceam.]
1761. Hume, Hist. Eng., I. ix. 196. All burgesses were to have … a wambais; that is, a coat quilted with wool, tow, or such-like materials.
1792. H. H. Brackenridge, Mod. Chivalry (1846), 189. It will be best to present him just as he is in his brogues and wambus.
1821. Meyrick & C. H. Smith, Costume Orig. Inhab., 58. The [Danish] king is habited in a corslet of leather (wambas) passing over his rock or tunic. This wambas was of painted elk or stag-skin, and was a kind of half armour.
1874. Stubbs, Const. Hist. (1897), I. xiii. 633. The Assize of Arms in 1181 … directed that … all burghers … [must possess] a wambais, head-piece, and lance.
