long arm

American  

noun

1. a long pole fitted with any of various devices, as a hook or clamp, for performing tasks otherwise out of reach.

---

long arm British  

noun

1. power, esp far-reaching power

   the long arm of the law

2. to reach out for something, as from a sitting position

---

Example Sentences

He was impressed that Draper, working his way back to full sharpness after a long arm injury lay-off, managed to reach the last eight in Indian Wells.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

“Only very, very few have managed to escape the long arm of the law for a long time.”

From Slate • Feb. 25, 2026

Unless those buyers can entirely evade the U.S. financial system and the long arm of the Treasury, transactions with the firms would place them in jeopardy.

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

The nation’s multilayered historical background has been variously stamped by a basic Arabic heritage, ineradicable remnants of protracted Ottoman Turkish rule and the long arm of the British colonial empire.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

Pet raised a long arm and pointed with Bitter’s corpse finger at Jam.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi