long arm
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
a person's or organization's influence or power that can reach far
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
sự ảnh hưởng hoặc quyền lực của một người hoặc tổ chức có thể vươn tới xa
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: an arm that is long
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company's long arm can affect businesses worldwide
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “long arm” mean?
a person's or organization's influence or power that can reach far Literally: an arm that is long
Is “long arm” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.