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:
“Hands behind your back,” one officer is heard saying as he holds Ludwig’s right arm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The new individual pizza format is being championed by Domino’s incoming chief executive Joe Jordan, who rose up through the company’s innovation arm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
And his arm is pretty good — like, throwing a spiral 67 yards good.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Carrington caught Cunningham across the left side of the head with her arm as the Indiana Fever guard attempted a right-handed layup late in the opening quarter in Chicago.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 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
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
Arm is a British company, founded in 1990 and majority-owned since 2016 by SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate that built much of its fortune through investments in China’s technology sector, notably Alibaba.
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
That licensing model helped put Arm technology into some 350 billion chips worldwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Arm had to suffer the hate, greed and anger boiling around the suburb known as the Cow’s Guts.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Between 2022 and 2024, nearly 1 million U.S. homeowners used an ARM to buy a home and are still paying it off.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 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 Holdings ARM 15.73%increase; green up pointing triangle , which licenses the basic blueprints that Nvidia uses in its PC chips, jumped more than 15%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Arm Holdings ARM 16.38%increase; green up pointing triangle picked a perfect time jump into the AI market with its own chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
W. beichiog, beichiawg, pregnant, with child, fr. baich burden, Arm. beac'h; or cf.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
Arm. bonn boundary, limit, and boden, bod, a tuft or cluster of trees, by which a boundary or limit could be marked.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
It never fails to sound like a call to arms.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Then we applied temporary cat tattoos onto our arms, channeling our inner teen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The community is seen rallying around him in his darkest hours—a beautiful display that is mirrored in the way that Richmond itself has welcomed “Ted Lasso” fans, seemingly with open arms.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Lyon's home shirt for the new campaign pays tribute to the city, with Lyon's coat of arms silhouetted against the shirt sponsor and appearing as a subtle pattern across the stripes.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Maryke de Graaf, a Dutch woman on the tier above ours, helped me form a cradle with our arms and carry Betsie outside.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in the territory.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
President Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative who won office promising to crack down on armed groups, found himself scrambling to deal with damage in cities large and small across several provinces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sahel countries are among the most vulnerable to rising temperatures, while many are already grappling with armed conflict, food insecurity and widespread poverty.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The neighborhood has just 34 residences, guarded by a private police force and 24/7 armed boat patrols.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
With six horses, nine passengers, an armed guard, mail, and freight, a fully loaded Concord stage is over six tons in motion.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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
By arming her mammies with revolvers, rifles and bullets, Saar turned a symbol of servility into one of militancy and power.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
According to prosecutors, Allen spent his last minutes checking websites that covered Trump's whereabouts, arming himself, and posing for a selfie taken with a cellphone in the mirror of his room.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
But for a ceasefire to hold it would have to be accompanied by an agreement that regional backers stop arming the parties - and that will not be easy to achieve.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
Volpe, it seems to me, is always subtly arming his students with qualities and skills that do not come to them naturally.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
