arm in arm

Of two people, having linked arms, typically at the elbows, as a romantic gesture or one of friendship. Dana and her new boyfriend were arm in arm as they walked toward us. My daughter and her best friend are always walking around arm in arm.

Fig. [of persons] linked or hooked together by the arms. (*Typically: go ~; Stroll ~; walk ~.) The two lovers walked arm in arm down the street. They skated arm in arm around the rink.

With one person's arm linked around another's; also, closely allied or intimate, as in Both couples walked arm in arm around the grounds of the estate, and This candidate is arm in arm with the party's liberal wing. The literal expression dates from the late 1300s, when Chaucer so used it: "They went arm in arm together into the garden" ( Troilus and Cressida). The figurative usage dates from about 1600. Also see hand in hand.

With arms linked together: They walked across the beach arm in arm.