at arm's length

At a distance, avoiding intimacy or familiarity, as in Bill hated seeing his colleagues outside the office, preferring to keep all of them at arm's length, or She was friendly only when he was safely at arm's length. Now often used with the verb keep, this term for distancing oneself from a person, organization, or issue originated as at arm's end but developed its current form by the mid-1600s.

Refers to the bargaining position of two parties that are unrelated to one another and whose mutual dealings are influenced only by the independent interest of each. The term is used to describe a standard of dealing that reflects no motivation other than those normally to be expected on the part of two unconnected parties transacting in good faith in the ordinary course of business. For example, a good faith transaction for the sale of goods in the ordinary course of trade. An agreement made with care to avoid being overreaching, which compares favorably with the usual conduct of business within the trade generally. 363 S.W. 2d 98, 100. One-sided contracts involving some of the elements of unconscionability may not be at arm's length. Relevant elements include inequality of bargaining power, whether the contract is standardized and heavily weighed in favor of one party on a take-it or leave-it basis, or whether one party has taken advantage of the weaker party's ignorance, or general business naivete. See generally, U.C.C. §2-302, §1-203. A sale between a parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary would not be considered a transaction at arm's length. See 114 F. 2d 202. See sale.

The adverb has one meaning:

Meaning #1: at some distance