To me, the sentence He held his daughter by the arm implies holding a baby in the arm like this photo:
However is there any ambiguity here in the meaning? Can this mean he kept his daughter from going by pressing and keeping her arm?!
Learn English – What does “hold someone by the arm” mean
prepositionssentence-meaning
Best Answer
The photo in your question shows a man holding a baby in his arm, or cradling a baby in his arm.
We usually mean something like this when we say hold by the arm.
It often describes a method to keep someone from leaving, yes.