hand

hand¹ W1S1 [hænd] n

↑finger, ↑fingernail, ↑thumb

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1¦(part of body)¦

2¦(help)¦

3¦(control)¦

4 get out of hand

5 on the other hand

6 hands off

7 in hand

8 in the hands of somebody/in somebody's hands

9 hands up

10 at hand

11 to hand

12 on hand

13 by hand

14 (at) first hand

15 (at) second/third/fourth hand

16 at the hands of somebody

17 get your hands on something

18 lay your hands on something

19 come to hand

20 get your hands on somebody

21 have a hand in something

22 hand in hand

23 have something/somebody on your hands

24 be off your hands

25 try your hand at (doing) something

26 turn your hand to (doing) something

27 out of hand

28 hands down

29 have your hands full

30 good with your hands

31 on either/every hand

32 get your hands dirty

33 keep your hand in

34 hand in glove

35 hand over fist

36 a big hand

37 all hands on deck

38¦(worker)¦

39¦(cards)¦

40¦(clock)¦

41¦(writing)¦

42 somebody's hands are tied

43 tie/bind somebody hand and foot

44 can do something with one hand (tied) behind your back

45 not do a hand's turn

46 somebody's hand (in marriage)

47¦(horse)¦

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[: Old English;]

1.) ¦(PART OF BODY)¦

the part of your body at the end of your arm, including your fingers and thumb, that you use to hold things

▪ Go wash your hands.

▪ Steve gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands.

▪ He held the pencil in his right hand .

▪ In her hand was a tattered old photograph.

▪ a small book, no bigger than the palm of my hand

▪ She waved her hand to the crowd.

▪ They were laughing and cheering and clapping their hands .

▪ The young couple were holding hands .

▪ The two leaders shook hands .

▪ Marika took the child by the hand and led her away.

▪ They all joined hands in a big circle.

▪ Sally sat with her hands folded in her lap.

▪ Raise your hand if you know the answer.

▪ I had to get down on my hands and knees and look under the settee.

▪ He was capable of killing a man with his bare hands .

2.) ¦(HELP)¦

a hand

help with something - used in the following phrases

need/want a hand

▪ Do you need a hand packing?

give/lend (sb) a hand

▪ Can you give me a hand to lift this?

▪ If you get stuck, Denise is always willing to lend a hand.

I could do with a hand/use a hand

(=it would be useful to have some help)

▪ We could certainly do with a hand.

→a helping hand at ↑help¹ (9) see usage note ↑help¹

3.) ¦(CONTROL)¦ [singular, U]

control, power, or influence that someone has

▪ The President has strengthened the hand of the gun lobby.

▪ This matter is too important to be left in the hands of (=in the control of) an inexperienced lawyer.

▪ a manager with a firm hand (=who controls things strictly)

4.) get out of hand

if a situation or person gets out of hand, they become impossible to control any longer

▪ The previously peaceful demonstration seemed to be getting out of hand.

5.) on the other hand also on the one hand. .. on the other hand

used to give another opinion or fact that should be considered as well as the one you have just given

▪ I'd like to eat out, but on the other hand I should be trying to save money.

6.) hands off

spoken used to say that someone cannot have, take, or touch something

▪ Hey! Hands off that CD! It's mine!

▪ Tell your little brother to keep his hands off my car.

→↑hands-off

7.) in hand

a) if something is in hand, it is being done or dealt with

▪ Plans are in hand to perform 'Oz' next semester.

▪ Lisa seemed to have things in hand by the time he returned.

job/task/matter etc in hand

▪ Our officers have to concentrate 100 per cent on the task in hand.

take sb in hand

(=begin to deal with someone's problems etc)

b) BrE if you work a week, a month etc in hand, you do not get paid until after you have worked two weeks, two months etc

c) BrE if you have time, money etc in hand, you have it available

▪ I usually have a few days' leave in hand at the end of the year.

d) BrE if a team or player has a game in hand in a competition, they still have another game to play in which they could gain more points

8.) in the hands of sb/in sb's hands

being dealt with or cared for by someone

▪ The matter is in the hands of the police.

in good/safe/capable etc hands

▪ You can be sure your children are in good hands.

▪ The fear is that nuclear secrets could fall into the wrong hands .

→a safe pair of hands at ↑safe¹ (11)

9.) hands up

a) with your arms straight up in the air - used especially to tell someone to do this as a sign that they will not attack you

▪ Hands up! You're under arrest!

▪ The men emerged from the building with their hands up.

b) used to tell people to put their arm straight up in the air if they know the answer to a question or want to say something

▪ Hands up if you agree with what Eric was saying.

10.) at hand formal

a)

likely to happen soon

▪ Recent economic performance suggests that a major crisis is at hand.

b) close to you and available to be used

▪ Don't worry, help is at hand !

c) needing to be dealt with now

▪ Peter turned his attention to the task at hand.

11.) to hand

BrE something that is to hand is close to you, so that you can reach it easily

12.) on hand

close by and ready when needed

▪ Our staff are always on hand to help.

13.) by hand

a) done or made by a person rather than a machine

▪ We had to wash our clothes by hand.

b) delivered by someone personally, rather than being sent through the post, emailed etc

14.) (at) first hand

if you know or experience something first hand, you have personal experience of it

▪ an opportunity to view at first hand the workings of the court

15.) (at) second/third/fourth hand

if you know something second, third etc hand, someone tells you about it, but you have no personal experience of it

▪ Until now, information has been second or third hand, but this news comes from someone who was there.

16.) at the hands of sb

caused or done by a particular person - used about something bad or unpleasant that someone does

▪ Anyone who suffered at the hands of care workers will be entitled to compensation.

▪ This is their third defeat at the hands of the world champions.

17.) get your hands on sth informal

to succeed in getting something

▪ She's only marrying him to get her hands on his money.

18.) lay your hands on sth

to find or get something

▪ I would read any book I could lay my hands on.

19.) come to hand

if something comes to hand, it is there for you to use - used especially about something that is there by chance

▪ They ran, picking up whatever weapons came to hand .

20.) get your hands on sb

spoken to catch someone you are angry with

▪ Just wait till I get my hands on you!

21.) have a hand in sth

to influence or be involved in something

▪ He scored one goal and had a hand in two others.

22.) hand in hand

a) (go) hand in hand

if two things go hand in hand, they are closely connected

▪ Wealth and power go hand in hand in most societies.

(go) hand in hand with

▪ They say that genius often goes hand in hand with madness.

b) if two people walk, stand etc hand in hand, they walk, stand etc while they are holding each other's hand

▪ They walked hand in hand in silence up the path.

23.) have sth/sb on your hands

to have a difficult job, problem, situation etc to deal with

▪ I'm afraid we have a murder on our hands, Inspector.

24.) be off your hands

if something or someone is off your hands, you are not responsible for them any more

▪ Once this problem is off our hands we can relax for a while.

take sb/sth off sb's hands

▪ She wants someone to take the kids off her hands occasionally.

25.) try your hand at (doing) sth

to try to do something you have not tried before

▪ John dreamed of being a writer and had tried his hand at poetry.

26.) turn your hand to (doing) sth

to do something well, even if it is the first time you have tried

▪ Larry's one of those men who can turn their hand to anything.

27.) out of hand

without even stopping to consider what someone has suggested, asked for etc

reject/dismiss/refuse etc sth out of hand

▪ Aromatherapy was dismissed out of hand by traditional doctors.

28.) hands down

easily

win (sth)/beat sb hands down

▪ Nigel always won hands down in any argument.

29.) have your hands full

to be very busy or too busy

▪ Can't it wait? I already have my hands full.

30.)good with your hands

skilful at making things

31.) on either/every hand

written on both sides or in every direction

▪ Thick forest stood on either hand.

32.) get your hands dirty

a) informal to do hard or dirty physical work - usually used in questions or negative statements

▪ It's not that the jobs aren't there, it's just that she doesn't want to get her hands dirty.

b) to get involved in the difficult, dishonest, or unpleasant side of something

▪ He never talked to the media or got his hands dirty in any way.

33.) keep your hand in

to do something that you used to do a lot, so you do not forget how to do it

▪ You should at least work part-time, just to keep your hand in.

34.) hand in glove

closely connected with someone, especially in a bad or illegal activity

▪ Far from being independent, the government and media work hand in glove.

35.) hand over fist informal

if you gain or lose something hand over fist, you gain or lose it very quickly

▪ Five years ago, the company was losing money hand over fist.

36.) a big hand

spoken used to tell the people who are watching a performance to ↑clap or ↑cheer loudly

▪ And now, a big hand for Ms Joan Rivers!

▪ Let's all give the girls a big hand .

37.) all hands on deck also all hands to the pumps BrE informal used to say that everyone is needed to help in a particular situation

▪ With only half an hour to get everything ready, it was all hands on deck.

38.) ¦(WORKER)¦

someone who does physical work on a farm, factory, ship etc

▪ The farm hands slept in a narrow hut next to the barn.

39.) ¦(CARDS)¦

a) the playing cards given to one person in a game

▪ a winning hand

b) a single game of cards

↑date, ↑face, ↑hand, ↑strap

40.)¦(CLOCK)¦

a long thin piece of metal that points at the numbers on a clock

hour/minute/second hand

41.) ¦(WRITING)¦ [singular]

old-fashioned someone's ↑handwriting

42.) sb's hands are tied

if someone's hands are tied, they cannot help in a particular situation because of rules, laws etc

▪ The bank claims its hands are tied by federal regulators.

43.) tie/bind sb hand and foot

a) to tie up someone's hands and feet

b) to make it very difficult or impossible for someone to do what they think is best

44.) can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back

spoken used to say that you can do something very easily

45.) not do a hand's turn

BrE old-fashioned informal to do no work at all

46.) sb's hand (in marriage)

old-fashioned permission for a man to marry a particular woman

▪ He asked for her hand in marriage.

47.) ¦(HORSE)¦

a unit for measuring the height of a horse, equal to about 10 centimetres

→↑cash-in-hand, ↑freehand, ↑hands-on, ↑left-hand, ↑right-hand,be an old hand (at sth) at ↑old, bite the hand that feeds you at ↑bite¹ (15), have blood on your hands at ↑blood¹ (2), have your hands/fingers in the till at ↑till² (3), force sb's hand at ↑force² (7), overplay your hand at ↑overplay, shake sb's hand/shake hands with sb at ↑shake¹ (4), wash your hands of sth at ↑wash¹ (5)

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

somebody's left/right hand

in somebody's hand

the palm of your hand (=the inside surface of your hand)

the back of your hand (=the outside surface of your hand)

wave your hand

clap your hands

hold hands (with somebody)

shake somebody's hand also shake hands (with somebody) (=as a greeting)

take somebody by the hand (=hold someone's hand in order to take them somewhere)

join hands (=take hold of someone's hand, for example in a dance)

clasp your hands (=hold them together tightly)

fold your hands (=put them together and rest them on something)

raise your hand also put your hand up British English (=lift your hand in the air, especially to show that you want to answer or ask a question)

on (your) hands and knees (=in a crawling position)

with your bare hands (=without using a tool, weapon, machine etc)

HINT sense 5

Do not say 'on one hand'. Say on the one hand.

HINT sense 8

Do not say 'in the hand of' someone. Say in the hands of someone.

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hand ²

hand² W2S2 v [T]

1.) to give something to someone else with your hand

hand sb sth

▪ He handed the teacher a slip of paper.

hand sth to sb

▪ He lit a cigarette and handed it to her.

▪ This form must be handed to all employees.

2.) you have to hand it to sb

spoken used to say that you admire someone

▪ You have to hand it to her. She's really made a success of that company.

hand around [hand sth<=>around] phr v

to offer something to each person in a group

▪ Willie helped hand the mugs around.

hand back [hand sth<=>back] phr v

1.) to give something back to the person who gave it to you, with your hand

hand something<=>back to

▪ Kurt examined the document and handed it back to her.

hand sb sth<=>back

▪ She handed him his pen back.

2.) to give something back to the person who used to own it

hand something<=>back to

▪ The land was handed back to its original owner.

hand sb sth<=>back

▪ The government has promised to hand investors back their money.

hand down [hand sth<=>down] phr v

1.) to give or leave something to people who will live after you

hand something<=>down to

▪ The ring was handed down to her from her grandmother.

▪ stories handed down by word of mouth

→↑hand-me-down

2.) hand down a decision/ruling/sentence etc

to officially announce a decision, punishment etc

hand in [hand sth<=>in] phr v

to give something to someone in authority

▪ Tom has handed in his resignation.

▪ Did you hand your homework in on time?

hand on [hand sth<=>on] phr v

to give something to someone, for example because you no longer need it

▪ The clock was handed on from Kevin's father.

▪ He was accused of handing on government secrets.

hand out [hand sth<=>out] phr v

to give something to each person in a group

= ↑distribute

▪ Could you start handing these books out please?

hand something<=>out to

▪ He was handing out leaflets to members of the audience.

→↑handout

hand over phr v

1.) hand sth<=>over

to give something to someone with your hand, especially because they have asked for it or should have it

▪ The soldiers were ordered to hand over their guns.

hand something<=>over to

▪ He handed the phone over to me.

2.) to give someone power or responsibility over something which you used to be in charge of

hand sth<=>over (to sb)

▪ On his retirement, he handed the business over to his son.

▪ Political control has been handed over to religious leaders.

hand over to

▪ Now she feels the time has come to hand over to someone else.