verb
Street Slang
put the arm on
PUT-thuh-ARM-on · verb · slang
To pressure someone for money; to extort.
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Definitions
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To 'put the arm on' someone is to demand money from them by pressure or intimidation.
“The collectors put the arm on every business behind on payments.”
by community
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put the arm on In A Sentence
The collectors put the arm on every business behind on payments.
Origin & Usage
American underworld slang, 20th century.
Variants
put the arm on someone
People Also Ask
What does 'put the arm on' mean?
To pressure or intimidate someone into handing over money, in other words to extort or shake them down.
Can 'put the arm on' mean asking for a favour?
Loosely, yes. It can be softened to mean leaning on someone for a loan or a favour, but the core underworld sense is coercive money-collection.
Where is the phrase from?
It is 20th-century American underworld slang associated with debt collection, protection rackets and extortion.
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