Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) personal weaponry.

1822		W. Irving ‘The Rookery’ in Bracebridge Hall II 94: They now and then get a shot from the rusty artillery of some refractory farmer.
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 16: As the Lizard makes his bluff his hand goes to his artillery like a flash.
1903		Goodwin’s Wkly 26 Sept. 12/2: The highwayman lingered and carelessly fingered a piece of artillery long as a rope.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 68: Sensational scene in court when Atty. Beany flashed a piece of artillery.
1912		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 36: Hiram Hughes the cop was all a twitter [...] Just as he was about to slip his feelers around the artillery a deep voiced piped, If you are he is Salome.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 98: The ‘target’ is the most reliable man in the mob [...] He is the first one to get shot at and the last. It’s his job to carry the heavy artillery and stand off the natives while the others get the coin, and then to cover the get-away.
1934		R.L. Bellem ‘Sleeping Dogs’ in Spicy Detective Sept. 🌐 He had a gun in his hand. He was pointing it at me [...] I kept my hands flat on my desk. I asked ‘Why the artillery?’.
1940		R. Chandler Farewell, My Lovely (1949) 15: Easy now [...] This isn’t the time to pull the artillery.
1951		M. Spillane One Lonely Night 43: I stood in front of the mirror [...] trying to decide whether or not I should wear the artillery.
1955		B. Hill Boss of Britain’s Underworld 11: We knew the Blacks had shooters [...] So one of my women brought some artillery to us. Revolvers were easy to get [...] another woman brought along a bag full of Mills bombs.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 233: ‘A riot gun?’ [...] ‘We might need the heavy artillery.’.
1971		W. Burk Thief 309: You got to check your artillery at the bar.
1979		G. Swarthout Skeletons 165: Put the artillery away before somebody gets hurt.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 273: Guy may be King Shit inside, out on the street he’s just another psycho with artillery.

2. (US, also field artillery) the female breasts.

1929

J.T. Farrell Calico Shoes 224: Mira, she could shake her field artillery like the cat’s tonsilitis .

3. (US drugs) equipment for injecting drugs [plays on shot n.¹ (6b)].

1933		D. Maurer ‘Junker Lingo’ in AS VIII:2 27: The hypodermic needle and its accessories used for the injection of narcotics are called the gun or artillery.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1953		Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic In Narcotics 303: artillery, light artillery. The equipment for taking an injection of a drug.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 3: Artillery – narcotics.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 199: He had recently recovered from hepatitis gotten from a piece of community artillery passed from junkie to junkie.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 2: Artillery — Equipment for injecting drugs.

4. (US) beans [beans, trad. and physiologically, are equated with the breaking of wind and are thus empowered with ‘shooting’ ability].

1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 19: Artillery. — Beans, or any other food likely to ferment [...] of army origin.
1944		Slanguage Dict. Mod. Amer. Sl.
1946		F. Eikel Jr ‘An Aggie Vocab. of Sl.’ in AS XXI: 1 31: artillery, n. Beans.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

5. (US prison) alcohol.

1960

(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 3: Artillery – liquor.

6. the attractive female figure.

1976

R.E. Chinn Dig Nigger Up 182: Her bra and panties were bright red [...] My eyes roamed over her familiar artillery [HDAS].

7. (Aus. prison) cutlery, which when metal doubled as weaponry.

1990

Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Artillery. Prison cutlery. This is a carry-over term which is strictly not accurate since most cutlery issued now is made of plastic for security reasons.