twist someone's arm

1. Coerce or persuade someone, as in If you twist my arm I'll stay for another drink, or She didn't really want to go to the theater but he twisted her arm. Originally alluding to physical coercion, this term is now generally used more loosely and often jocularly. [Mid-1900s]

Related Words

• alarm 
• awe 
• bully 
• coerce 
• constrain 
• daunt 
• dishearten 
• dismay 
• scare 
• subdue 
• terrify 
• terrorize