Word.ws English Dictionary

keep at arm's length

keep at arm's length verb: keep at a distance, away from one's body.

Verb

keep at arm's length

  1. (transitive) Keep at a distance, away from one's body.
  2. (figuratively, transitive) Avoid direct confrontation or struggle.
    • Ramsey's goal secured the points, but the win came on the back of a measured performance that saw Arsenal keep Dortmund at arm's length for long periods and score with a classic counter-attack.2013 November 6, Chris Bevan, “Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport
  3. (figuratively, transitive) Avoid a close relationship.
    • She's been keeping me at arm's length all the time. She doesn't want to get involved.

Questions about keep at arm's length

What does keep at arm's length mean?
Keep at arm's length means keep at a distance, away from one's body.
What part of speech is keep at arm's length?
Keep at arm's length is a verb.

Words near keep at arm's length in the dictionary

  1. keep an eye peeled
  2. keep an eye skinned
  3. keep apace
  4. keep around
  5. keep at
  6. keep at arm's length
  7. keep away
  8. keep away from
  9. keep back
  10. keep body and soul together
  11. keep cave

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keep at arm's length (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-keep at arm's length.ogg.

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