arm's length

Definitions

1. 1

   A distance approximately equal to the length of a human's arm.

   • I need about ten arm's lengths of yarn.
2. 2

   A position not suggesting or inviting intimacy.

   • She remained at arm's length though we worked together for many years.
3. 3

   A condition of independence and parity for parties to a transaction.

   • The police work at arm's length from the army.
   • "Government should have an arms-length relationship with the railway," it adds.
   • In any viable scenario of renationalisation, the idea was always to ensure that the railways were at arm's length from the Department, since it was recognised that allowing civil servants to run the show is always a bad idea.
4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Barely within reach.

   2. 5

      Distant, detached.

   3. 6

      Independent, but related.

The neighborhood

• neighborarmlength