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Glite Dictionary
straight-arm

straight-arm

7.0
In American football, pushing a defender away by holding the arm straight
  • noun
  • /ˈstreɪtˌɑrm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : brazo extendido
  • The running back used a quick straight-arm to evade the tackler and keep running.

Examples

  • Mickey just stands there, grins, then smashes Wayne in the face with a straight arm.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • CONNOR: So the idea is you have the ball and you bowl it with a straight arm and you try and hit the wicket.

    The Water Diviner (2014)

  • During the game, he pushed the defender away using a powerful straight-arm move.

  • With a skillful straight-arm, he created enough space to make a touchdown.

Antonyms

tackle
  • US
40 3.5

The action of stopping a player by grabbing and bringing them to the ground

Surface Forms

straight-arm singular
straight-arms plural

Morphology

straight-arm = straight + arm (transparent) = straight + arm

The meaning is a literal combination of 'straight' + 'arm' describing an extended arm used to push, which learners can infer from the components.

Etymology

Straight-arm comes from the two simple parts straight ('not bent') and arm ('the limb used to push'). Imagine a player holding their arm straight to push a tackler away — that image is exactly what the move means.