AT ARM'S LENGTH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does at arm's length mean? 

• AT ARM'S LENGTH (adverb)
  The adverb AT ARM'S LENGTH has 1 sense:

1. at some distance

  Familiarity information: AT ARM'S LENGTH used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AT ARM'S LENGTH (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

At some distance

Context example:

keep someone at arm's length

 Context examples 

Nonsense! You mean to go tomorrow, I suppose? he said, holding me out at arm's length, with a hand on each of my shoulders.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Here he held Martin off at arm's length and ran his beaming eyes over Martin's second-best suit, which was also his worst suit, and which was ragged and past repair, though the trousers showed the careful crease he had put in with Maria's flat-irons.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I picked it up with a weary bend and handed it back to her, holding it at arm's length and by the extreme tip of the corners to indicate that I had no designs upon it—but every one near by, including the woman, suspected me just the same.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)