arm-twisting

noun

arm-twist·​ing ˈärm-ˌtwi-stiŋ 

plural arm-twistings

: the act or practice of forcing or obliging people to do things they do not want to do in order to achieve a desired end

His mastery of the Congress was celebrated … mostly because of his arm-twisting … in lining up votes.

—Joe Klein

Playing the violin, she reminds people, was always something she wanted to do; no parental arm-twisting was necessary.

—K. Robert Schwarz

arm-twist

ˈärm-ˌtwist 

transitive verb

arm-twisted; arm-twisting; arm-twists

[Aubrey] Plaza's character could be presented as a victim of circumstance, the clichéd heist-movie character arm-twisted into one last job.

—Ross Douthat

arm-twister noun

plural arm-twisters

Call them the arm-twisters—the senior campaign aides and Democratic leaders who are in the forefront of courting, cajoling, and capturing the superdelegates.

—Kenneth T. Walsh et al.

Synonyms

• coercion
• compulsion
• constraint
• duress
• force
• pressure

Examples of arm-twisting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But the couple will not spend time on any presidential arm-twisting. —Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2023

That set the table for a Wednesday House vote, but arm-twisting for votes continued up to the final minute. —Laura Litvan, Bloomberg.com, 2 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined above