at arm's length

Idioms  

1. At a distance, avoiding intimacy or familiarity, as in Bill hated seeing his colleagues outside the office, preferring to keep all of them at arm's length, or She was friendly only when he was safely at arm's length. Now often used with the verb keep, this term for distancing oneself from a person, organization, or issue originated as at arm's end but developed its current form by the mid-1600s.

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Example Sentences

Other sports leagues have kept prediction markets at arms length.

From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025

It felt like England always had Italy at arms length and it wasn't 'are England going to win this?'

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2025

Wyatt Wilkes, who came in averaging less than four points a game, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the half to keep Clemson at arms length.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 29, 2020

Indeed, some of the former Yellow Vests demonstrated with the unionists Thursday, though they had held them at arms length all through their own protests last year.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2019

I unbunch it slowly, holding it at arms length.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli