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strong-arm. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
strong-arm, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
strong + arm
Adjective
strong-arm (not comparable)
- Bullying; extortionate.
- (usually figuratively) Coercive, employing force.
Verb
strong-arm (third-person singular simple present strong-arms, present participle strong-arming, simple past and past participle strong-armed)
- To bully; to intimidate.
- 2001, Bob Dylan, “Floater (Too Much to Ask)” from the album Love and Theft,
- One of the boss’ hangers-on
- Comes to call at times you least expect
- Try to bully ya—strong-arm you—inspire you with fear
- (often figuratively) To coerce, to muscle.
2023 March 14, Alexandra Jacobs, “Your Annoying Roommate Is Slaying on TikTok”, in The New York Times:In a five-part series on the “Extremely Passive Aggressive Roommate,” Ms. Brier […] complains about her roomie coming home at 3:27 a.m.; strong-arms that roommate into renewing their lease and then welcomes a guest to “the common space.”
2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:It is difficult to summarise the arrogance, contempt, complacency and incompetence shown by the DfT in a scheme where it strong-armed the rail industry (in the form of the Rail Delivery Group) to 'front up'.
Noun
strong-arm (plural strong-arms)
- A person who threatens or intimidates others, especially on behalf of somebody else; a goon or enforcer.
2000, Irving Shulman, The Big Brokers:There used to be a goon I knew in the Bronx—a tough mockie we used to call Yussel the Bricklayer—and you never saw a guy who was more screwed up. This guy Yussel would've been a strongarm for nothing, he enjoyed it so much.
See also
Anagrams