arm pat

1 1.8

A gentle touch on the arm to show comfort or support

noun

: palmada en el brazo

After the news, I received a comforting arm pat from my friend.

Examples

Sometimes a simple arm pat can mean more than words.
She gave her friend a gentle arm pat to show support.
He offered a comforting arm pat before leaving the room.
She gave him a gentle arm pat.
He offered a comforting arm pat before leaving the room.
Sometimes a simple arm pat can mean more than words.
She gave her friend a gentle arm pat to show support.

Synonyms

stroking

vsarm pat

2 1.6

A gentle movement of the hand over something to comfort or calm it

is a brief targeted touch on one body area to reassure

gentle stroke

vsarm pat

1 3.1

A soft light touch to comfort a person or animal

is a brief targeted touch on one body area to reassure

Antonyms

neglect

94 3.5

Not caring for someone or something that needs care

How Affectionate

to embrace

95 2.8

to squeeze

6 1.0

arm pat

1 1.8

touch

311 1.0

tap

57 1.0

Surface Forms

arm pat singular

arm pats plural

Morphology

arm + pat

The meaning—a gentle pat delivered to someone's arm—is directly and compositionally derivable from the constituents 'arm' (body part) and 'pat' (brief affectionate touch). This straightforward noun+noun combination follows common cross‑linguistic patterns for describing a touch on a body part, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand it.

Etymology

Arm pat comes from the simple image of someone giving a soft pat on another's arm to show care. That's why it means 'a gentle touch to comfort or reassure'.