at arm's length

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

at arm's length

1. At a distance, away from one's body.
   • 2020 September 5, Phil McNulty, “Iceland 0-1 England”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Iceland were defiant, as they always are, rigid in defence and lacking in attacking ambition, willing to simply keep England at arm's length and maybe land a counter-punch.

2. (idiomatic) Avoiding a close relationship.

   She's been keeping me at arm's length all the time. She doesn't want to get involved.

Derived terms

• keep at arm's length

Translations

at a distance

• Finnish: etäällä (fi), käsivarren mitan päässä
• French: à bout de bras (fr)
• Hungarian: kartávolságra
• Italian: a debita distanza, a distanza di sicurezza
• Polish: na wyciągnięcie ręki (pl), na dystans
• Swedish: på armlängds avstånd

avoiding a close relationship

• Finnish: pitää etäisyyttä (to keep at arm's length)