armlock en · NOUN
Etymology
From arm + lock.
Meanings
- A wrestling move in which the opponent's arm is held immobile.
- Any of several distinct attacks against an opponent’s arm in martial arts.
-
A fighting hold in which the arm is used to immobilise an opponent.
It would keep the bone-cage of his body safe: no enemy's clasp would crush him in it, no vicious armlock choke his life out.
1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 47:
-
(broadly, figuratively) Power to control or heavily influence something or someone.
Mr Chávez remains a formidable opponent. […] He has an armlock on the country’s institutions.
2012 September 29, “Venezuela’s presidential election: The autocrat and the ballot box”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2020:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| armlocks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (5)
fr clef de bras (wrestling move rendering opponent's arm immobile) · pt chave de braço (wrestling move rendering opponent's arm immobile) · ru рыча́г ло́ктя (wrestling move rendering opponent's arm immobile) · fr clé de bras (wrestling move rendering opponent's arm immobile) · ga glas ascaille (wrestling move rendering opponent's arm immobile)