English
arm
see also: Arm, ARM
Pronunciation Noun

arm (plural arms)

  1. The portion of the upper human appendage, from the shoulder to the wrist and sometimes including the hand.
    She stood with her right arm extended and her palm forward to indicate “Stop!”
  2. (anatomy) The extended portion of the upper limb, from the shoulder to the elbow.
    The arm and forearm are parts of the upper limb in the human body.
  3. A limb, or locomotive or prehensile organ, of an invertebrate animal.
    the arms of an octopus
  4. A long, narrow, more or less rigid part of an object extending from the main part or centre of the object, such as the arm of an armchair, a crane, a pair of spectacles or a pair of compasses.
    The robot arm reached out and placed the part on the assembly line.
  5. (geography) A bay or inlet off a main body of water.
    Shelburne Bay is an arm of Lake Champlain.
  6. A branch of an organization.
    the cavalry arm of the military service
  7. (figurative) Power; might; strength; support.
    the arm of the law
    the secular arm
    • Bible, Isa. lii. 1
      To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
  8. (baseball, slang) A pitcher
    The team needs to sign another arm in the offseason.
  9. (genetics) One of the two parts of a chromosome.
  10. A group of patients in a medical trial.
Verb

arm (arms, present participle arming; past and past participle armed)

  1. (obsolete) To take by the arm; to take up in one's arms.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance)​, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      And make him with our pikes and partisans / A grave: come, arm him.
    • 1634, attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen
      Arm your prize; / I know you will not lose him.
Adjective

arm (comparative armer, superlative armest)

  1. (UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland) Poor; lacking in riches or wealth.
  2. (UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland) To be pitied; pitiful; wretched.
Noun

arm (plural arms)

  1. (usually used in the plural) A weapon.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      The next thing I laid hold of was a brace of pistols, and as I already had a powder horn and bullets, I felt myself well supplied with arms.
  2. (in the plural) Heraldic bearings or insignia.
    The Duke's arms were a sable gryphon rampant on an argent field.
  3. (in the plural, obsolete) War; hostilities; deeds or exploits of war.
Synonyms Translations Translations Verb

arm (arms, present participle arming; past and past participle armed)

  1. (transitive) To supply with armour or (later especially) weapons.
    The king armed his knights with swords and shields.
  2. (transitive) To prepare a tool or a weapon for action; to activate.
    Remember to arm the alarm system before leaving for work.
  3. (transitive) To cover or furnish with a plate, or with whatever will add strength, force, security, or efficiency.
    to arm the hit of a sword; to arm a hook in angling
  4. (transitive, figurative) To furnish with means of defence; to prepare for resistance; to fortify, in a moral sense.
    • Bible, 1 Peter iv. 1
      Arm yourselves […] with the same mind.
  5. (intransitive) To take up weapons; to arm oneself.
  6. (transitive) To fit (a magnet) with an armature.
Synonyms Translations Translations
Arm
Adjective

arm

  1. Abbreviation of Armenian#English|Armenian.
ARM
Noun

arm

  1. accelerated reply mail: a service of the United States Postal Service
  2. Initialism of adjustable rate mortgage
Proper noun
  1. Acorn Risc Machine


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