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• arm
  arm

  noun

  the upper limb of the human body, especially the part extending from the shoulder to the wrist.
• Arm
  Arm

  abbreviation

  Armenian.
• ARM
  ARM

  adjustable-rate mortgage.
• Arm.
  Arm.

  abbreviation

  Armenian.

arm

¹ American  

[ahrm] / ɑrm /

noun

1. the upper limb of the human body, especially the part extending from the shoulder to the wrist.

2. the upper limb from the shoulder to the elbow.

3. the forelimb of any vertebrate.

4. some part of an organism like or likened to an arm.

5. any armlike part or attachment, as the tone arm of a phonograph.

6. a covering for the arm, especially a sleeve of a garment.

   the arm of a coat.

7. an administrative or operational branch of an organization.

   A special arm of the government will investigate.

8. Nautical. any of the curved or bent pieces of an anchor, terminating in the flukes.

9. an armrest.

10. an inlet or cove.

    an arm of the sea.

11. a combat branch of the military service, as the infantry, cavalry, or field artillery.

12. power; might; strength; authority.

    the long arm of the law.

    Synonyms:

    reach

13. support or protection.

    He had always been there when I needed a strong arm to lean on or a word of counsel.

    May you take comfort knowing she is in God's loving arms.

14. Typography. either of the extensions to the right of the vertical line of a K or upward from the vertical stem of a Y.

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idioms

1. at arm's length, not on familiar or friendly terms; at a distance.

   He's the kind of person you pity but want to keep at arm's length.

2. twist someone's arm, to use force or coercion on someone.

3. with open arms, cordially; with warm hospitality.

   a country that receives immigrants with open arms.

4. arm in arm, with arms linked together or intertwined.

   They walked along arm in arm.

5. put the arm on,

   1. to solicit or borrow money from.

      She put the arm on me for a generous contribution.

   2. to use force or violence on; use strong-arm tactics on.

      If they don't cooperate, put the arm on them.

6. on the arm, free of charge; gratis.

   an investigation of policemen who ate lunch on the arm.

7. an arm and a leg, a great deal of money.

   Our night on the town cost us an arm and a leg.

8. in the arms of Morpheus, asleep.

   After a strenuous day, he was soon in the arms of Morpheus.

arm ² American  

[ahrm] / ɑrm /

noun

1. Usually arms weapons, especially firearms.

2. Heraldry. arms, the escutcheon, with its divisions, charges, and tinctures, and the other components forming an achievement that symbolizes and is reserved for a person, family, or corporate body; armorial bearings; coat of arms.

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verb (used without object)

• arms,
  present (3rd person singular)
• armed,
  past participle,  past
• arming
  present participle

1. to enter into a state of hostility or of readiness for war.

verb (used with object)

• arms,
  present (3rd person singular)
• armed,
  past participle,  past
• arming
  present participle

1. to equip with weapons.

   to arm the troops.

2. to activate (a fuze) so that it will explode the charge at the time desired.

   Antonyms:

   disarm, deactivate

3. to cover protectively.

4. to provide with whatever will add strength, force, or security; support; fortify.

   He was armed with statistics and facts.

5. to equip or prepare for any specific purpose or effective use.

   to arm a security system; to arm oneself with persuasive arguments.

   Synonyms:

   outfit, ready, equip

6. to prepare for action; make fit; ready.

idioms

1. bear arms,

   1. to carry weapons.

   2. to serve as a member of the military or of contending forces.

      His religious convictions kept him from bearing arms, but he served as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross.

2. up in arms, ready to take action; indignant; outraged.

   There is no need to get up in arms over such a trifle.

3. under arms, ready for battle; trained and equipped.

   The number of men under arms is no longer the decisive factor in warfare.

4. take up arms, to prepare for war; go to war.

   to take up arms against the enemy.

Arm ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Armenian.

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ARM ⁴ American  

1. adjustable-rate mortgage.

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Arm. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Armenian.

2. Armorican.

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arm ¹ British  

/ ɑːm /

noun

1. (in man) either of the upper limbs from the shoulder to the wrist

2. the part of either of the upper limbs from the elbow to the wrist; forearm

3. 1. the corresponding limb of any other vertebrate

   2. an armlike appendage of some invertebrates

4. an object that covers or supports the human arm, esp the sleeve of a garment or the side of a chair, sofa, etc

5. anything considered to resemble an arm in appearance, position, or function, esp something that branches out from a central support or larger mass

   an arm of the sea

   the arm of a record player

6. an administrative subdivision of an organization

   an arm of the government

7. power; authority

   the arm of the law

8. any of the specialist combatant sections of a military force, such as cavalry, infantry, etc

9. nautical See yardarm

10. sport ball games ability to throw or pitch

    he has a good arm

11. informal a large amount of money

12. with arms linked

13. at a distance; away from familiarity with or subjection to another

14. informal to be prepared to make any sacrifice

15. sleeping

16. with great warmth and hospitality

    to welcome someone with open arms

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verb

1. archaic (tr) to walk arm in arm with

arm ² British  

/ ɑːm /

verb

1. to equip with weapons as a preparation for war

2. to provide (a person or thing) with something that strengthens, protects, or increases efficiency

   he armed himself against the cold

3. 1. to activate (a fuse) so that it will explode at the required time

   2. to prepare (an explosive device) for use by introducing a fuse or detonator

4. nautical to pack arming into (a sounding lead)

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noun

1. (usually plural) a weapon, esp a firearm

Arm. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Armenia(n)

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ARM ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. adjustable rate mortgage

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arm More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing arm

• at arm's length
• babe in arms
• forewarned is forearmed
• give one's eyeteeth (right arm)
• long arm of the law
• one-armed bandit
• put the arm on
• shot in the arm
• take up arms
• talk someone's arm off
• twist someone's arm
• up in arms
• with one arm tied behind
• with open arms

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• armed
  adjective
• armless
  adjective
• armlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• arming
  present
• armed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• arm
  simple
• arms
  simple
• have armed
  perfect
• has armed
  perfect
• am arming
  progressive
• are arming
  progressive
• is arming
  progressive
• have been arming
  perfect progressive
• has been arming
  perfect progressive

Past

• armed
  simple
• had armed
  perfect
• was arming
  progressive
• were arming
  progressive
• had been arming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will arm
  simple
• will have armed
  perfect
• will be arming
  progressive
• will have been arming
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of arm¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English earm; cognate with Gothic arms, Old Norse armr, Old Frisian erm, Dutch, Old Saxon, Old High German arm ( German Arm ) “arm,” Latin armus “shoulder” and arma (neuter plural) “tools, weapons”; akin to Serbo-Croatian rȁme, rȁmo “shoulder”; Sanskrit īrmá, Avestan arəma-, Old Prussian irmo “arm”; see arm ²

Origin of arm²

First recorded in 1200–50 for the verb; 1300–50 for the noun; Middle English verb armen, from Anglo-French, Old French armer, from Latin armāre “to arm, equip,” verbal derivative of arma (neuter plural) “tools, weapons”; Middle English noun armes (plural), from Old French armes, from Latin arma (neuter plural reinterpreted as a feminine singular); akin to arm ¹

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Explanation

An arm is a limb on the upper part of a person's body. You can call the front limb of any animal an arm, though they're more often called "legs." Starfish have five arms, while humans have two. The sleeves of your shirt are arms too, and an excellent baseball pitcher is said to have "an arm," meaning a powerful throw. When arm is a verb, it means "supply with weapons." These meanings have two different roots: an arm with a hand on the end comes from the Old English earm, while the weapon arm is rooted in the Latin arma, or "weapons."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arm Arm ARM Arm. arms armed arming

“He’s got a lot of arm talent. He’s got experience certainly in the postseason. We’ve got a lot of guys behind him” in the bullpen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Riyadh on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging the escalation, saying it continued to arm and train the group.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

"It's a possible fracture of the arm but he's going to go for scans and we're not going to make a call on him right now where he's at," said Jones.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Average loans and leases jumped 13.5% to $278.6 billion in the global wealth and investment management business, while in the consumer banking arm, average loans and leases inched up 0.2% to $321 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

“He’s not going home, Karli,” Mutti said, taking Karli by the arm, and pulling him to his feet.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Where we shot, Snook’s Arm, was this bay called Brigus South.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Arm, AMD and Intel are all in the business of making central processing units for artificial-intelligence servers.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Facebook-owner Meta asked Arm to develop the Arm AGI chip and "demand has been off the charts", according to Haas, with more than $2bn worth of demand since it was launched in March.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Chip company Arm, gambling group Flutter and fintech Wise are among a litany of U.K. companies that ditched their home market for New York in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

He shook hands with each detective but paused and raised his eyebrows when he touched Arm.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

At the time, “I didn’t even know what an ARM was,” Wagner told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

During the subprime-mortgage crisis, some ARM borrowers buckled under balloon payments when the initial fixed term of the loan expired.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Coherent and Credo Technology each fell 13%, Marvell fell 7.8%, ARM Holdings fell 6.7% and Intel lost 6.6%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

In the archipelago of computing architectures—which includes Intel’s x86, still found in PCs and servers, and the ARM chips that power everything from smartphones to AI clusters—IBM’s stands alone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

If Powers had to eject while in flight, his instructions were first to flip a switch marked ARM and a second switch marked DESTRUCT.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

"It's a unique group. We're not all RAF, we're not all Fleet Air Arm. We've got all sorts of people. It's quite a family atmosphere."

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2020

“I’m going to lie in bed and relive all the courses in the Starlight Room. You should try that, Arm. You have the best imagination. Arm?”

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

“Come on, Arm. Let’s go for a walk,” said Ear.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

Yate, of Bockland, Berks, Arm., appears as a surety in 1583, in the Haberdashers' books.

From Shakespeare's Family by C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes

The Gael. has sil, to drop, rain, drip; and the Arm. has sila, to filter.

From The River-Names of Europe by Robert Ferguson

Tau’s pivot from robot arms to full-fledged humanoids reflects a broader shift in the robotics landscape.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Rather than relying primarily on massive jaws, megaraptorans had relatively narrow skulls, powerful arms, and huge curved claws that helped them seize their prey.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

“I know that they’ve got good arms; so do we. I think they’re just finding ways to win pitches better than we are.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Wall Street giants like Apollo, Blackstone and KKR, by contrast, have built multiple lucrative arms that can help offset weakness in any one unit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Then I shake out my arms and legs before I dive off, slicing through the water’s surface with my fingertips.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

About the size of a large tiger and armed with enormous curved claws, the animal roamed what is now Britain approximately 120 million years ago.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

The group has repeatedly declared that Saudi airspace is a “theater for the operations of our armed forces.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Grynkewich elaborated what he called his "theory of victory" to defeat an armed attack on the alliance as worries surge over what Western officials call a "hybrid" campaign of sabotage and interference by Moscow.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s armed forces had received appropriate orders, although he did not specify what those instructions entailed.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

I stopped in the doorway of Room 130 for a minute, just taking it in so I could do like soldiers do before a battle: assess the enemy, formulate a plan, get armed, and attack.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

According to Ms. Manning, his “expertise involved keeping soldier morale high, mainly by arming them with reading material—magazines, books, and comics.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

But the security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia - Aukus - arming Australia with nuclear submarines, is arguably the biggest example of deepening ties.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Assemblage artist Betye Saar, who’s known for arming stereotypical images of mammies with deadly weaponry, and has influenced generations of artists, has died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Some AI-safety campaigners—many of whom already worry that AI systems will escape human control and turn on their creators—argue that arming AI would only accelerate the danger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

As the European nations chose up sides, they were busily arming themselves.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

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Related Words

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