twist someone's arm en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To apply torsion along the length of the arm of (a person).
I twist his arm, a snap signaling when it breaks. His screams reverberate in the tiny apartment.
2013, Justina Ireland, Vengeance Bound, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 295:
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(figuratively) To coerce, force, or cajole.
Either to sully his reputation or to twist his arm into further cooperation, the authorities slapped a second, unrelated charge onto his sheet: He was accused of defrauding his clients' trust funds of a few hundred dollars.
2009, Mark Gevisser, A Legacy of Liberation, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 152:They had to twist his arm, but they got him to join the project.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| twisted someone's arm | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| twisted someone's arm | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| twists someone's arm | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| twisting someone's arm | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Translations (3)
fi painostaa (to coerce) · fr forcer la main (to coerce) · fi pakottaa (to coerce)