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Business English vocabulary · Negotiations

At arm's length

Meaning in business english, with examples

phraseAdvanced term

In business english, at arm's length means: With the parties acting independently rather than under each other's control or special influence.

In Turkish: bağımsız taraflar arasında, mesafeli biçimde

How it is used

Used in commercial and governance discussions. It concerns independence of dealings, not physical distance; a full assessment requires more than the phrase alone.

Example sentences

  1. The review asked whether the buyer and seller had negotiated at arm's length despite their family connection.

    The family link raises a question about independent bargaining rather than the meeting location.

  2. We hired an outside adviser to help assess whether the agreement had been reached at arm's length.

    The adviser examines the relationship behind the agreement, not merely the agreed price.

Common collocations

  • negotiate at arm's length
  • deal at arm's length
  • contractA formal written agreement between two or more parties that sets out what each side must do and can be enforced by law.
  • stakeholderA person or group that is affected by a project or company decision, or has an interest in it, such as employees, customers, investors or suppliers.

More terms: Negotiations

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