long arm
Americannoun
noun
-
power, esp far-reaching power
the long arm of the law
-
to reach out for something, as from a sitting position
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.
Among the more classic dissidents is Badiucao, a Melbourne-based artist with firsthand experience of how far the long arm of the Party can extend.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 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
During the 1950s and ’60s, the long arm of AM radio brought both into her home.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
He pulled the man inside with his long arm and slammed the door shut.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
