I. PART OF YOUR BODY OR OF SOMETHING ELSE
(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Your ~s are the two long parts of your body that are attached to your shoulders and that have your hands at the end.
She stretched her ~s out...
He had a large parcel under his left ~.
N-COUNT
2.
The ~ of a piece of clothing is the part of it that covers your ~.
= sleeve
N-COUNT
3.
The ~ of a chair is the part on which you rest your ~ when you are sitting down.
N-COUNT
4.
An ~ of an object is a long thin part of it that sticks out from the main part.
...the lever ~ of the machine.
...the ~s of the doctor’s spectacles.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
5.
An ~ of land or water is a long thin area of it that is joined to a broader area.
At the end of the other ~ of Cardigan Bay is Bardsey Island.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
6.
An ~ of an organization is a section of it that operates in a particular country or that deals with a particular activity.
Millicom Holdings is the British ~ of an American company.
= wing
N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N of n
7.
If two people are walking ~ in ~, they are walking together with their ~s linked.
He walked from the court ~ in ~ with his wife.
PHRASE: usu v PHR, oft PHR with n
8.
If you say that something costs an ~ and a leg, you mean that it is very expensive. (INFORMAL)
A week at a health f~ can cost an ~ and a leg.
PHRASE: PHR after v
9.
If you hold something at ~’s length, you hold it away from your body with your ~ straight.
He struck a match, and held it at ~’s length.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v
10.
If you keep someone at ~’s length, you avoid becoming too friendly or involved with them.
She had always kept his family at ~’s length.
PHRASE: V inflects
11.
If you welcome some action or change with open ~s, you are very pleased about it. If you welcome a person with open ~s, you are very pleased about their arrival.
They would no doubt welcome the action with open ~s...
PHRASE: PHR after v approval
12.
If you twist someone’s ~, you persuade them to do something. (INFORMAL)
She had twisted his ~ to get him to invite her.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
II. WEAPONS
(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Arms are weapons, especially bombs and guns. (FORMAL)
The IRA had extensive supplies of ~s.
...~s control.
N-PLURAL: oft N n
2.
If you ~ someone with a weapon, you provide them with a weapon.
She’d been so terrified that she had ~ed herself with a loaded rifle...
Arming the police doesn’t deter crime.
VERB: V n with n, V n
3.
If you ~ someone with something that will be useful in a particular situation, you provide them with it.
She thought that if she ~ed herself with all the knowledge she could gather she could handle anything...
VERB: V n with n
4.
The ~s of a city or of a noble family are its coat of ~s. Arms is often used in the names of British pubs.
...china painted with the ~s of Philippe V.
...his local pub, the Abercorn Arms.
N-PLURAL
5.
see also ~ed , -~ed , coat of ~s , comrade-in-~s , small ~s
6.
A person’s right to bear ~s is their right to own and use guns, as a means of defence.
PHRASE: V inflects
7.
If soldiers lay down their ~s, they stop fighting and give up their weapons. (OLD-FASHIONED)
PHRASE: V inflects
8.
If one group or country takes up ~s against another, they prepare to attack and fight them.
They threatened to take up ~s against the government if their demands were not met.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR against n
9.
If people are up in ~s about something, they are very angry about it and are protesting strongly against it.
Environmental groups are up in ~s about plans to sink an oil well close to Hadrian’s Wall.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR