long arm

Related to long arm: long arm of the law

long arm

Broad, far-reaching power or influence. (Usually paired with a noun, as in "the long arm of the law.") The long arm of justice finally put the murderer in jail, where he belongs. I'm afraid the long arm of corporate interests may make environmental preservation a near impossibility.
See also: arm, long
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • a list as long as your arm
  • list as long as (one's) arm
  • as long as (one's) arm
  • as long as your arm
  • long arm of the law
  • long arm of the law, the
  • long as your arm
  • make a long arm for (something)
  • stroll
  • arm in arm
References in classic literature
'Without, I say, betraying them, I predict to you, knowing the iron will of the gentleman we have just left (I take the bold step of calling it iron, on account of its strength), that in this case the long arm will reach, and the strong arm will strike.--This is our Cathedral, sir.
I stole them." With a snarl of rage he turned and his long arms began to flay the air.
Using his long arms as a man uses crutches, and rolling his huge carcass from side to side with each stride, the great king ape paced to and fro, uttering deep growls, occasionally punctuated with the ear-piercing scream, than which there is no more terrifying noise in all the jungle.
But as soon as the conversation ceased, the grinning, ugly creatures arose in a flock and flew swiftly toward the strangers, their long arms stretched out before them like the bowsprits of a fleet of sail-boats.
Their long arms, their short and crooked legs, their close-set, evil eyes, and their low, receding foreheads gave them a bestial appearance that sent a qualm of paralyzing fright through the shaken nerves of the Belgian.
Leaping from the tangled vegetation of the jungle's rim came a huge panther, with blazing eyes and bared fangs, and in his wake a score of mighty, shaggy apes lumbering rapidly toward them, half erect upon their short, bowed legs, and with their long arms reaching to the ground, where their horny knuckles bore the weight of their ponderous bodies as they lurched from side to side in their grotesque advance.
He swung his long arms backward and forwards, cracking his fingers, and talked unintelligibly to himself, hoarse, guttural murmurings without sense or import.
Her swing, too, revealed a grace, the grace of long arms and a supple body, at which previously he had only guessed.
"Catalist may alternatively be held to have submitted to jurisdiction in this Court under the Long Arm Statute if the cause of action arose from its 'transacting business in this commonwealth.' M.G.L.
Whether or not some people are holier than others, meaning they can defy the long arm of the law when it comes to answering for their excesses, is all the rage ever since the so-called Panama Papers landed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in hot waters in 2016.
The long arm of chromosome 11 has 5 bands, whereas the long arm of chromosome 9 has 4 bands because although the chromosomes are similar in length, 11q is longer than 9q when the 9q heterochromatic region is excluded.
Since Daimler has no direct relevancy to CPLR 302, we chose not to discuss its implications to assertions of long arm jurisdiction in this article.
This measure signals our unending quest for public accountability and will serve to remind erring public officers and employees that their so-called enviable lives or wealth, power and impunity are, in fact, fraught with impending retribution by the long arm of the lawwhich we can say has gotten even longer, the senator said.
The unit's long arm can pack pallets up to 70 inches, and pick, assemble and load multiple products without mechanical changeover.