arm
noun
the upper limb of the human body, especially the part extending from the shoulder to the wrist.
arm
1 American
[ahrm]
/ ɑrm /
noun
-
the upper limb of the human body, especially the part extending from the shoulder to the wrist.
-
the upper limb from the shoulder to the elbow.
-
the forelimb of any vertebrate.
-
some part of an organism like or likened to an arm.
-
any armlike part or attachment, as the tone arm of a phonograph.
-
a covering for the arm, especially a sleeve of a garment.
the arm of a coat.
-
an administrative or operational branch of an organization.
A special arm of the government will investigate.
-
Nautical. any of the curved or bent pieces of an anchor, terminating in the flukes.
-
an armrest.
-
an inlet or cove.
an arm of the sea.
-
a combat branch of the military service, as the infantry, cavalry, or field artillery.
-
power; might; strength; authority.
the long arm of the law.
- Synonyms:
- reach
-
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.
-
Typography. either of the extensions to the right of the vertical line of a K or upward from the vertical stem of a Y.
idioms
-
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.
-
twist someone's arm, to use force or coercion on someone.
-
with open arms, cordially; with warm hospitality.
a country that receives immigrants with open arms.
-
arm in arm, with arms linked together or intertwined.
They walked along arm in arm.
-
put the arm on,
-
to solicit or borrow money from.
She put the arm on me for a generous contribution.
-
to use force or violence on; use strong-arm tactics on.
If they don't cooperate, put the arm on them.
-
-
on the arm, free of charge; gratis.
an investigation of policemen who ate lunch on the arm.
-
an arm and a leg, a great deal of money.
Our night on the town cost us an arm and a leg.
-
in the arms of Morpheus, asleep.
After a strenuous day, he was soon in the arms of Morpheus.
arm
2
American
[ahrm]
/ ɑrm /
noun
-
Usually arms weapons, especially firearms.
-
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.
verb (used without object)
-
arms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
armed,
past participle, past
-
arming
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
arms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
armed,
past participle, past
-
arming
present participle
-
to equip with weapons.
to arm the troops.
-
to activate (a fuze) so that it will explode the charge at the time desired.
- Antonyms:
- disarm, deactivate
-
to cover protectively.
-
to provide with whatever will add strength, force, or security; support; fortify.
He was armed with statistics and facts.
-
to equip or prepare for any specific purpose or effective use.
to arm a security system; to arm oneself with persuasive arguments.
-
to prepare for action; make fit; ready.
idioms
-
bear arms,
-
to carry weapons.
-
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.
-
-
up in arms, ready to take action; indignant; outraged.
There is no need to get up in arms over such a trifle.
-
under arms, ready for battle; trained and equipped.
The number of men under arms is no longer the decisive factor in warfare.
-
take up arms, to prepare for war; go to war.
to take up arms against the enemy.
Arm
3
American
abbreviation
ARM
4
American
Arm.
5
American
abbreviation
-
Armenian.
-
Armorican.
arm
1
British
/ ɑːm /
noun
-
(in man) either of the upper limbs from the shoulder to the wrist
-
the part of either of the upper limbs from the elbow to the wrist; forearm
-
-
the corresponding limb of any other vertebrate
-
an armlike appendage of some invertebrates
-
-
an object that covers or supports the human arm, esp the sleeve of a garment or the side of a chair, sofa, etc
-
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
-
an administrative subdivision of an organization
an arm of the government
-
power; authority
the arm of the law
-
any of the specialist combatant sections of a military force, such as cavalry, infantry, etc
-
nautical See yardarm
-
sport ball games ability to throw or pitch
he has a good arm
-
informal a large amount of money
-
with arms linked
-
at a distance; away from familiarity with or subjection to another
-
informal to be prepared to make any sacrifice
-
sleeping
-
with great warmth and hospitality
to welcome someone with open arms
verb
arm
2
British
/ ɑːm /
verb
-
to equip with weapons as a preparation for war
-
to provide (a person or thing) with something that strengthens, protects, or increases efficiency
he armed himself against the cold
-
-
to activate (a fuse) so that it will explode at the required time
-
to prepare (an explosive device) for use by introducing a fuse or detonator
-
-
nautical to pack arming into (a sounding lead)
noun
Arm.
3
British
abbreviation
ARM
4
British
abbreviation
arm
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
armsimple
-
armssimple
-
have armedperfect
-
has armedperfect
-
am armingprogressive
-
are armingprogressive
-
is armingprogressive
-
have been armingperfect progressive
-
has been armingperfect progressive
Past
-
armedsimple
-
had armedperfect
-
was armingprogressive
-
were armingprogressive
-
had been armingperfect progressive
Future
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
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The primary endpoints were for progression-free survival and overall survival in the primary population of patients versus the comparator arm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
And after seeing many young pitchers, some still in their teens, undergo the surgery named for him, he spoke out against arm overuse, recommending less than year-round pitching by young arms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
John’s left arm had atrophied, his hand now basically a claw, and two of his fingers were numb.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Any touch of the ball with the hand or arm by a defender will be a penalty, or an indirect free-kick for a backpass if it is the goalkeeper.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Candie rubs his arm gently and says, “That’s right, Earl, you can throw down in the kitchen—throw down your apron and call Pizza Hut.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Washington also needs a RISC-V strategy that reduces dependence on Arm without inviting dependence on China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“We are now in a new business for Arm to supply chips,” CEO Rene Haas said—a departure from his 2022 observation that the company tried “to stay as neutral as possible.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
For more than two decades, two ISAs have dominated mainstream computing: x86, which powers most personal computers and servers, and Arm, which dominates smartphones and is expanding into cars, defense systems and artificial intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
This was reasonable when Arm was a neutral supplier, but no longer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“At least wait,” Arm said, counting out the money.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Refinancing to an ARM seemed like a no-brainer, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
The broader semiconductor sector followed suit, with shares of Micron, Intel, Marvell, and ARM Holdings all shedding 4% or more as investors questioned whether the dizzying AI trade has more room to run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Business Secretary Peter Kyle says he would have intervened to block the sale of UK microchip company ARM Holdings had he been in government at the time.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Arm is entering the data-center silicon market with its new ARM AGI CPU, developed in collaboration with Meta Platforms.
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 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
“Come on, Arm. Let’s go for a walk,” said Ear.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
“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
Ir., and Arm. glan, Welsh glain, pure, clear, Eng. clean.
From The River-Names of Europe by Robert Ferguson
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
They nicknamed it the "Saguaro" because its prominent spiral arms resemble the cactus found in the Sonoran Desert of the Southwestern United States.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
Two helicopters circled to drop rose petals over the Virgin Mary, which stands in a large crown with open arms, during Saturday's ceremony.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
On Thursday, he left everybody in the stands rooting for the Dodgers up in arms, booing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The US-inspired Premier League arms race has led to a substantial spike in the valuations of England's top clubs, giving their owners a handsome return on their initial investment.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Rue has one hand on each of my arms.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
For decades, the Department of Homeland Security has granted TPS designations for foreign-born people who can’t return to their home countries because of unsafe conditions such as armed conflict or natural disasters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Hundreds of others, armed with mats, tents and pillows, had done the same.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Cobbled together in the aftermath of 9/11, the agency has 7,100 armed, highly trained agents and another 800 criminal analysts, as well as access to troves of confidential data about hundreds of millions of Americans.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
In a statement, the Trump administration called drones a “key technology in modern armed conflict.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
He told Lieutenant Lovett that the man with the broken leg was armed, that he wore a false beard.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
Sathit, a shop-owner with more than 40 guns in his collection, cited the weakness of law enforcement in Thailand as his reason for arming himself.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 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
Many in Japan retain a suspicion of military authority, and some worry that arming Japan risks making the country more of a target.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
North Korea also recently carried out missile tests from the naval Choe Hyon destroyer, claiming the country was in the process of "arming the Navy with nuclear weapons".
From Barron's ● Mar. 14, 2026
Miss Wren appointed Bronwyn, the clown, and the folding man to be Caul’s guards, arming them with broken icicles.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
