a combat branch of the military service, as the infantry, cavalry, or field artillery.
power; might; strength; authority: the long arm of the law.
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
an arm and a leg, a great deal of money: Our night on the town cost us an arm and a leg.
arm in arm, with arms linked together or intertwined: They walked along arm in arm.
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.
in the arms of Morpheus, asleep: After a strenuous day, he was soon in the arms of Morpheus.
on the arm, Slang. free of charge; gratis: an investigation of policemen who ate lunch on the arm.
put the arm on, Slang.
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.
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.
Origin of arm
1
before 900;Middle English;Old Englishearm; cognate with Gothicarms,Old Norsearmr,Old Frisianerm,Dutch,Old Saxon,Old High Germanarm (GermanArm) arm; Latinarmus,Serbo-Croatianrȁme,rȁmo shoulder; akin to Sanskritīrmá,Avestanarəma-, OPruss irmo arm; not akin to Latinarmaarm2
Related formsarmed, adjectivearm·like, adjectiveCan be confusedalmsarms
(in man) either of the upper limbs from the shoulder to the wristRelated adjective: brachial
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 massan arm of the sea; the arm of a record player
an administrative subdivision of an organizationan arm of the government
power; authoritythe arm of the law
any of the specialist combatant sections of a military force, such as cavalry, infantry, etc
C14: (n) back formation from arms, from Old French armes, from Latin arma; (vb) from Old French armer to equip with arms, from Latin armāre, from arma arms, equipment
"upper limb," Old English earm "arm," from Proto-Germanic *armaz (cf. Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Middle Dutch, German arm, Old Norse armr, Old Frisian erm), from PIE root *ar- "fit, join" (cf. Sanskrit irmah "arm," Armenian armukn "elbow," Old Prussian irmo "arm," Greek arthron "a joint," Latin armus "shoulder"). Arm of the sea was in Old English. Arm-twister "powerful persuader" is from 1938. Arm-wrestling is from 1899.
They wenten arme in arme yfere Into the gardyn [Chaucer]
arm
n.2
"weapon," c.1300, armes (plural) "weapons of a warrior," from Old French armes (plural), "arms, war, warfare," mid-13c., from Latin arma "weapons" (including armor), literally "tools, implements (of war)," from PIE root *ar- "fit, join" (see arm (n.1)). The notion seems to be "that which is fitted together." Meaning "heraldic insignia" (in coat of arms, etc.) is early 14c.; originally they were borne on shields of fully armed knights or barons.
arm
v.
"to furnish with weapons," c.1200, from Old French armer or directly from Latin armare, from arma (see arm (n.2)). Related: Armed; arming.
An exorbitant amount of money, as in These resort hotels charge an arm and a leg for a decent meal, or Fixing the car is going to cost an arm and a leg. According to Eric Partridge, this hyperbolic idiom, which is always used in conjunction with verbs such as “cost,” “charge,” or “pay,” and became widely known from the 1930s on, probably came from the 19th-century American criminal slang phrase, if it takes a leg (that is, even at the cost of a leg), to express desperate determination.
