arm

Meanings

1. The part of the body between the shoulder and the hand.
2. A part that sticks out like an arm, such as the arm of a chair.

Example sentences

• "He carried the boxes in his arms."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "She broke her arm when she fell off her bike."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "They walked down the street arm in arm."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

• "The arm of the sofa was covered in a soft blanket."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• hand : The hand is at the end of the arm. The arm is the whole limb from the shoulder.
• sleeve : A sleeve covers the arm. The arm is the part of the body.

Word family and forms

Forms: arms

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "arm".

• an arm in a cast
• broken arm
• hold in your arms
• arm in arm
• the arm of a chair
• cost an arm and a leg

Idioms and phrases

cost an arm and a leg

To be very expensive.

"That car costs an arm and a leg."

arm in arm

With arms linked together.

"The two friends walked arm in arm."

Origin

Arm comes from Old English earm, a very old Germanic word that is the same in Dutch and German, which say arm too, and is related to Latin armus, a shoulder. English has had the word since before the year 900. The verb arm, meaning to give weapons, is a different word.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Arm is a short word for a short job: from your shoulder out to your hand.

Test yourself

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