arm's length

noun

1

: a distance discouraging personal contact or familiarity

kept former friends at arm's length now

2

: the condition or fact that the parties to a transaction are independent and on an equal footing

arm's-length

ˈärmz-ˈleŋ(k)th 

-ˈlen(t)th

adjective

Examples of arm's length in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Set your work station up for success: Sit about an arm's length away from your screen, and set your screen height to slightly below your eye line, not above. —Sarah Bence, Health, 19 May 2025

In general, held the Tax Court, the premiums charged by CSI to STW were neither reasonable nor the result of an arm's length transaction. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

Telling us what's arm's length and what's not, looking at comparables? —Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

Indeed, in India, the middle class has historically maintained an arm's length relationship with politics. —Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2013

Word History

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for arm's length

• strength

Legal Definition

arm's length

noun

: the condition of the parties to a business deal in which each has independent interests and one does not dominate the other

—often used in the phrase at arm's length

a contract made at arm's length

arm's-length adjective