Word.ws English Dictionary

give someone the arm

give someone the arm verb: to direct the bras d'honneur (obscene gesture) at someone.

Verb

give someone the arm (third-person singular simple present gives someone the arm, present participle giving someone the arm, simple past gave someone the arm, past participle given someone the arm)

  1. (US, informal) To direct the bras d'honneur (obscene gesture) at someone.
    • Pentangeli walks out of the restaurant; there's a little tension between the bodyguards of the two factions.
      ROSATO (O.S.) Hey, Five-Angels...
      He gives him the arm.
      Frankie's face turns red, like he wants to have it out here and now; but Willy Cicci calms his down, and they all make their move out.1973, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II (screenplay, second draft)

Forms of give someone the arm

third-person singular presentgives someone the arm
present participlegiving someone the arm
pastgave someone the arm
past participlegiven someone the arm

Questions about give someone the arm

What does give someone the arm mean?
Give someone the arm means to direct the bras d'honneur (obscene gesture) at someone.
What part of speech is give someone the arm?
Give someone the arm is a verb.
What is the past tense of give someone the arm?
The past tense of give someone the arm is gave someone the arm.

Words near give someone the arm in the dictionary

  1. give someone Jessie
  2. give someone line
  3. give someone one
  4. give someone something to think about
  5. give someone the air
  6. give someone the arm
  7. give someone the bag
  8. give someone the boot
  9. give someone the brush-off
  10. give someone the business
  11. give someone the chair

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: give someone the arm (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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