arm's length

plural arm's lengths

1. A distance approximately equal to the length of a human's arm.

   I need about ten arm's lengths of yarn.

2. figurativelyA position not suggesting or inviting intimacy.

   She remained at arm's length though we worked together for many years.

3. figurativelyA condition of independence and parity for parties to a transaction.

   The police work at arm's length from the army.

   2 more examples

   "Government should have an arms-length relationship with the railway," it adds.

   2020 April 22, “Labour's blueprint for the future of Britain's railways”, in Rail, page 28

   In any viable scenario of renationalisation, the idea was always to ensure that the railways were at arm's length from the Department, since it was recognised that allowing civil servants to run the show is always a bad idea.

   2020 June 3, Christian Wolmar, “Unworkable policies cripple our beleagered railway”, in Rail, page 51

1. literallynot comparableBarely within reach.
2. idiomaticnot comparableDistant, detached.
3. idiomaticnot comparableIndependent, but related.

   Kate Bingham's success is powerful validation of what has been RAIL 's opinion on this key question for many months now: that we must have a new arm's length body, similar to the Vaccine Task Force, to strategically plan and organise our railways... and quickly too.

   2021 February 24, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Vaccines and railways”, in RAIL, number 925, page 3