tendre les bras
Meaning: To offer help and support to someone, or to welcome them warmly.
Language: French
Literally: to stretch out one's arms
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The literal gesture of extended arms is the universal posture of welcome, embrace, and the offering of aid.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- compter sur les doigts d’une main — To be so few in number that they can be counted on five fingers or fewer.
- tirer l’oreille — To scold or reprimand someone.
- tirer les oreilles — To scold someone harshly or punish them.
- ne plus savoir où donner de la tête — To be overwhelmed with work or demands.
- avoir les yeux qui sortent de la tête — To stare with eyes wide open in anger or astonishment.
- faire baiser les verges — To force someone you have mistreated to beg your pardon.
More French idioms
- retourner à la case départ — To find oneself back where one began, as if no progress had been made.
- sentir la naphtaline — To be old-fashioned or antiquated.
- passer maître — To become the foremost expert in something.
- plumer la poule sans la faire crier — To extract money or advantage from someone so skillfully that they do not complain or res…
- faire fureur — To provoke great enthusiasm or widespread popularity.
- pousser les feux — To intensify effort or energy; to redouble one's exertions to achieve a goal.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.