arm-twisting

noun

arm-twist·​ing ˈärm-ˌtwi-stiŋ How to pronounce arm-twisting (audio)
plural arm-twistings
: the act or practice of forcing or obliging people to do things they do not want to do in order to achieve a desired end
His mastery of the Congress was celebrated … mostly because of his arm-twisting … in lining up votes.Joe Klein
Playing the violin, she reminds people, was always something she wanted to do; no parental arm-twisting was necessary.K. Robert Schwarz
arm-twist transitive verb
arm-twisted; arm-twisting; arm-twists
[Aubrey] Plaza's character could be presented as a victim of circumstance, the clichéd heist-movie character arm-twisted into one last job. Ross Douthat
arm-twister noun
plural arm-twisters
Call them the arm-twisters—the senior campaign aides and Democratic leaders who are in the forefront of courting, cajoling, and capturing the superdelegates. Kenneth T. Walsh et al.

Examples of arm-twisting in a Sentence

it took some arm-twisting, but they eventually agreed to make a donation
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Israel, often skeptical of UN solutions, would likely need some convincing to back a trusteeship, up to and including the type of U.S. arm-twisting seen recently over weapons shipments. Lloyd Axworthy, Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2024 After some arm-twisting by Mottola, the Recording Academy invited Martin to perform at the 41st Grammy Awards. Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2024 Biden’s verbal arm-twisting should not be taken lightly. Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, TIME, 15 Apr. 2024 The Bush administration and its successor worked hard in cooperation with Yeltsin to make that happen, using a series of inducements and diplomatic arm-twisting. Serhii Plokhy, Foreign Affairs, 22 Nov. 2019 His years of gentle arm-twisting paid off in the creation of the consortium, which collected genetic data from more than 11,000 people with Alzheimer’s and a nearly equal number of older people who showed no signs of dementia. Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 3 Dec. 2019 But the couple will not spend time on any presidential arm-twisting. Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2023 That set the table for a Wednesday House vote, but arm-twisting for votes continued up to the final minute. Laura Litvan, Bloomberg.com, 2 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of arm-twisting was in 1924

Dictionary Entries Near arm-twisting

Cite this Entry

“Arm-twisting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arm-twisting. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

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