arm (1), arme

[A.S. arm, earm; Sw., Dan., Dut., Mod. Ger., O. L. Ger., and O. H. Ger. arm; O. Fris. erm; O. Icel. armr; Goth. arms; Arm. armm; Lat. arm us = an arm; Gr. ἁρμός (harmos) = a fitting, a joint; ἄρω (arō) = to join, to fit together; Lat. and Gr. root ar to join, to fit.] A. Ordinary Language: I. Lit .: The portion of the human body on either side, extending from the shoulder to the hand; the corresponding part also in a quadrumanous animal, a monkey for example. More rarely, one of the forelegs in a digitated quadruped of any kind. "Then let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade,..." Job xxx i. 22. "The hair of the orang-outang is of a brownish-red colour, and covers his back, arms , legs, and outside of his hands and feet."- Griffith's Cuvier, i. 239. the arms and paws [of a squirrel, Sciurus bicolor) are bordered with a beautiful series of hairs." -Ibid., iii. 182. IL. Figuratively : 1. Of material things : Anything which stands out from that of which it constitutes a part, as an outstretched arm does from the human body. Specially (a) A branch of a tree, especially when it is tolerably horizontal. "A broad oak, stretching forth its leafy arms." Words worth: Excursion, bk. v. (b) The projecting supports for the human arms on the two sides of some chairs, hence called arm - chairs . [ARM-CHAIR.] (c) [See B. 2, Naut .] (d) A narrow inlet running from the ocean some distance inland. The White Sea, the Baltic, and the Adriatic Sea may be considered arms of the sea. "...good reasons can be a igned for believing that this valley was formerly occupied by an arm of the sea."-Darwin: Voyage round the World , chap. ix. 2. Of things not material: (a) Power, physical, mental, moral, or spiritual; support of any kind. "Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm , and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house."-1 Sam . ii. 31. (b) Trust, dependence. "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm , and whose heart departeth from the Lord."- Jer . xvii. 5. B. Technically : 1. Her . The human arm is often found constituting part of a crest. [CUBIT-ARM.] 2. Naut. The word arm is used for the extremity of a yard. (Generally called the yard- arm .) arm-and-arm, adv. & a The same as ARM-IN-ARM (q.v.). "Go, fool; and, arm - and -arm with Clodio, plead Your cause before a bar you little dread." Cowper: Progre of Error.