hand in hand

Related to hand in hand: go hand in hand
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A. phalanges
B. metacarpals
C. carpals


3. Something suggesting the shape or function of the human hand, especially:
a. Any of the rotating pointers used as indexes on the face of a mechanical clock.
b. A pointer, as on a gauge or dial.
4. Printing See index.
5. Lateral direction indicated according to the way in which one is facing: at my right hand.
a. A style or individual sample of writing.
b. A signature: put my hand to the contract.
7. A round of applause to signify approval.
8. Physical assistance; help: gave me a hand with the bags.
9. hands Sports A hand ball in soccer.
10. Games
a. The cards held in a card game by a given player at any time.
b. The number of cards dealt each player; the deal.
c. A player or participant in a card game: We need a fourth hand for bridge.
d. A portion or section of a game during which all the cards dealt out are played: a hand of poker.
a. One who performs manual labor: a factory hand.
b. One who is part of a group or crew: the ship's hands.
12. A participant in an activity, often one who specializes in a particular activity or pursuit: an old hand at labor negotiations.
a. The degree of immediacy of a source of information; degree of reliability: heard the scandalous tale at third hand.
b. The strength or force of one's position: negotiated from a strong hand.
a. often hands Possession, ownership, or keeping: The books should be in your hands by noon.
b. Power; jurisdiction; care: The defendant's fate is in the hands of the jury. Dinner is in the chef's hands.
a. Involvement or participation: "In all this was evident the hand of the counterrevolutionaries" (John Reed).
b. An influence or effect: The manager had a hand in all major decisions.
c. Evidence of craft or artistic skill: can see the hand of a genius even in the lighter poems.
16. An aptitude or ability: I tried my hand at decorating.
17. The aesthetic feel or tactile quality of something, such as a fabric, textile, or carpeting, that indicates its fineness, texture, and durability.
18. A manner or way of performing something: a light hand with makeup.
a. Permission or a promise, especially a pledge to wed.
b. A commitment or agreement, especially when sealed by a handshake; one's word: You have my hand on that.
v. hand·ed, hand·ing, hands
1. To give or pass with or as if with the hands; transmit: Hand me your keys.
2. To aid, direct, or conduct with the hands: The usher handed the patron to a reserved seat.
3. Nautical To roll up and secure (a sail); furl.
4. Sports
a. To give (the ball) directly to a teammate, as in football. Often used with off.
b. To carry, strike, or propel (the ball) with the hand or arm in violation of the rules in soccer.
v.intr. Sports
To make a handoff, as in football. Often used with off.
Phrasal Verbs:
hand down
1. To bequeath to one's heirs.
2. To make and pronounce (an official decision, especially a court verdict).
hand on
To turn over to another.
hand out
1. To distribute freely; disseminate.
2. To administer or deal out.
hand over
To release or relinquish to another.
hand up
To deliver (an indictment) to a higher judicial authority.
at hand
1. Close by; near.
2. Soon in time; imminent: Retribution is at hand.
3. Under discussion: Let's keep to the matter at hand.
at the hand/hands of
By or through the agency of: favors he received at the hands of his uncle.
by hand
By using the hands; manually.
get/lay (one's) hands on
To get possession of; acquire or obtain.
hand and foot
With concerted, never-ending effort: had to wait on them hand and foot.
hand in/and glove
On intimate terms or in close association: "The folklore of American academia says that publishing and teaching go hand in glove" (Edward B. Fiske).
hand in hand
In cooperation; jointly.
hand it to Informal
To give credit to: You've got to hand it to her; she knows what she's doing.
hand over fist
At a tremendous rate: made money hand over fist.
hands down
1. With no trouble; easily.
2. Indisputably; unquestionably.
in hand
1. In one's possession: arrived with the contract in hand.
2. Under control: kept the tense situation in hand.
3. Under consideration: gave her attention to the matter in hand.
4. In preparation or process: With the work finally in hand, we began to see progress.
5. Sports Remaining to be played by one team but not by another: Their team is ahead in the standings, but our team has two games in hand.
off (one's) hands
No longer under one's jurisdiction, within one's responsibility, or in one's care: We finally got that project off our hands.
on hand
1. Present; available: Are there enough people on hand to hold a meeting?
2. About to happen; imminent: What is on hand for this evening?
on/upon (one's) hands
In one's possession, often as an imposed responsibility or burden: Now they have the grandchildren on their hands.
on one/the one hand
As one point of view; from one standpoint.
on the other hand
As another point of view; from another standpoint.
out of hand
1. Out of control: Employee absenteeism has gotten out of hand.
2. Without consideration; immediately: dismissed my complaint out of hand.
to hand
1. Nearby.
2. In one's possession.

[Middle English, from Old English.]

hand′er n.
hand′less adj.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adv.1.hand in hand - together; "hand in hand with hope went fear"; "doctors and nurses work hand in hand to save lives"
2.hand in hand - clasping each other's hands; "they walked hand in hand"
يداً بِيَد
ruku v ruce
hånd i hånd
kéz a kézben
leiîast; fara saman
el ele


(hӕnd) noun
1. the part of the body at the end of the arm.
2. a pointer on a clock, watch etc. Clocks usually have an hour hand and a minute hand.
3. a person employed as a helper, crew member etc. a farm hand; All hands on deck!
4. help; assistance. Can I lend a hand?; Give me a hand with this box, please.
5. a set of playing-cards dealt to a person. I had a very good hand so I thought I had a chance of winning.
6. a measure (approximately centimetres) used for measuring the height of horses. a horse of 14 hands.
7. handwriting. written in a neat hand.
(often with back, ~down, ~up etc).
1. to give (something) to someone by hand. I handed him the book; He handed it back to me; I'll go up the ladder, and you can hand the tools up to me.
2. to pass, transfer etc into another's care etc. That is the end of my report from Paris. I'll now hand you back to Fred Smith in the television studio in London.
ˈhandful noun
1. as much as can be held in one hand. a handful of sweets.
2. a small number. Only a handful of people came to the meeting.
3. a person etc difficult to control. Her three children are a (bit of a) handful.
ˈhandbag noun
(American usually purse) a small bag carried by women, for personal belongings.
ˈhandbill noun
a small printed notice.
ˈhandbook noun
a small book giving information about (how to do) something. a handbook of European birds; a bicycle-repair handbook.
ˈhandbrake noun
(in a car, bus etc) a brake operated by the driver's hand.
ˈhandcuff verb
to put handcuffs on (a person). The police handcuffed the criminal.
ˈhandcuffs noun plural
steel rings, joined by a short chain, put round the wrists of prisoners. a pair of handcuffs.
ˈhand-lens noun
a magnifying-glass held in the hand.
ˌhandˈmade adjective
made with a person's hands or with tools held in the hands, rather than by machines. hand-made furniture.
hand-ˈoperated adjective
hand-operated switches.
ˈhand-outhand outbelowˌhand-ˈpicked adjective
chosen very carefully. a hand-picked team of workers.
ˈhandshake noun
the act of grasping (a person's) hand eg as a greeting.
ˈhandstand noun
the gymnastic act of balancing one's body upright in the air with one's hands on the ground.
ˈhandwriting noun
1. writing with a pen or pencil. Today we will practise handwriting.
2. the way in which a person writes. Your handwriting is terrible!
ˈhandwritten adjective
The letter was handwritten, not typed.
at hand
1. (with close or near) near. The bus station is close at hand.
2. available. Help is at hand.
at the hands of
from, or by the action of. He received very rough treatment at the hands of the terrorists.
be hand in glove (with someone)
to be very closely associated with someone, especially for a bad purpose.
by hand
1. with a person's hand or tools held in the hands, rather than with machinery. furniture made by hand.
2. not by post but by a messenger etc. This parcel was delivered by hand.
fall into the hands (of someone)
to be caught, found, captured etc by someone. He fell into the hands of bandits; The documents fell into the wrong hands (= were found, captured etc by someone who was not supposed to see them).
force someone's hand
to force someone to do something either which he does not want to do or sooner than he wants to do it.
get one's hands on
1. to catch. If I ever get my hands on him, I'll make him sorry for what he did!
2. to get or obtain. I'd love to get my hands on a car like that.
give/lend a helping hand
to help or assist. I'm always ready to give/lend a helping hand.
hand down
to pass on from one generation to the next. These customs have been handed down from father to son since the Middle Ages.
hand in
to give or bring to a person, place etc. The teacher told the children to hand in their exercise-books.
hand in hand
with one person holding the hand of another. The boy and girl were walking along hand in hand; Poverty and crime go hand in hand.
hand on
to give to someone. When you have finished reading these notes, hand them on to me.
hand out
to give to several people; to distribute. The teacher handed out books to all the pupils; They were handing out leaflets in the street.
hand-out noun
a leaflet.
handout noun
1. a leaflet or a copy of a piece of paper with information given to students in class, distributed at a meeting etc. You'll find the diagram on page four of your handout.
2. money, clothes etc given to a very poor person or a beggar.
hand over
to give or pass; to surrender. We know you have the jewels, so hand them over; They handed the thief over to the police.
hand over fist
in large amounts, usually quickly. He's making money hand over fist.
hands down
very easily. You'll win hands down.
hands off!
do not touch!.
hands-on adjective
practical; involving active participation. hands-on experience with computers.
hands up!
raise your hands above your head. `Hands up!' shouted the gunman.
hand to hand with one individual fighting another at close quarters: The soldiers fought the enemy hand to hand; () adjective (etc)
hand-to-hand fighting.
have a hand in (something)
to be one of the people who have caused, done etc (something). Did you have a hand in the building of this boat / in the success of the project?
have/get/gain the upper hand
to (begin to) win, beat the enemy etc. The enemy made a fierce attack but failed to get the upper hand.
hold hands (with someone)
to be hand in hand with someone. The boy and girl walked along holding hands (with each other).
in good hands
receiving care and attention. The patient is in good hands.
in hand
1. not used etc; remaining. We still have $10 in hand.
2. being dealt with. We have received your complaint and the matter is now in hand.
in the hands of
being dealt with by. This matter is now in the hands of my solicitor.
keep one's hand in
to remain good or skilful at doing something by doing it occasionally. I still sometimes play a game of billiards, just to keep my hand in.
off one's hands
no longer needing to be looked after etc. You'll be glad to get the children off your hands for a couple of weeks.
on hand
near; present; ready for use etc. We always keep some candles on hand in case there's a power failure.
(on the one hand) … on the other hand
an expression used to introduce two opposing parts of an argument etc. (On the one hand) we could stay and help you, but on the other hand, it might be better if we went to help him instead.
out of hand
unable to be controlled. The angry crowd was getting out of hand.
shake hands with (someone) / shake someone's hand
to grasp a person's (usually right) hand, in one's own (usually right) hand, as a form of greeting, as a sign of agreement etc.
a show of hands
at a meeting, debate etc, a vote expressed by people raising their hands.
take in hand
to look after, discipline or train.
to hand
here; easily reached. All the tools you need are to hand.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in periodicals archive ?
ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the journey of development and democracy will go hand in hand in the country.
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