Pronunciations (21)
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/hænd/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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[hænd]
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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[hand]
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/hand/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Midlands
- Southern
- Standard
- Wales
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[hand]
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Midlands
- Southern
- Standard
- Wales
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/hand/
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-England
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[hand]
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-England
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[händ]
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-England
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/hand/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
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[händ]
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
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/hænd/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
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[hænd]
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[heə̯nd]
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[hɛə̯nd]
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/hæːnd/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
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[hæːnd]
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[heːnd]
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[hɛːnd]
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/hɛnd/
Pronunciation notes
- New-Zealand
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[ˈhɛnd]
Pronunciation notes
- New-Zealand
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hænd
Noun
The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in humans and other primates, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
- Examples
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I wash my hands before eating.
Her hands are really strong.
More examples (3)
I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.
The fruits of these kickstarted endeavors began to show in 1915, first in the deployment of a new range of depth charges. These were, mercifully, smaller than Jellicoe's "crushing hand of God" prototype, and, whilst practically just as lethal to submarines, they were significantly less risky to the launching ship, and could also be carried in larger numbers.
That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand. A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand. An index or pointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on the face of an analog clock, which are used to indicate the time of day.
- Examples
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I hear the clock a'ticking on the mantel shelf / See the hands a'moving, but I'm by myself
That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once. The set of cards held by a player.
That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once. The set of cards held by a player. A round of a card game.
That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once. A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.
That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once. A bunch of bananas, a typical retail amount, where individual fruits are fingers.
Usage- collective
In linear measurement: Four inches, a hand's breadth.
Usage- in measuring the height of horses
- Examples
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Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.
In linear measurement: Three inches.
Usage- Obsolete
A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
- Examples
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[…]on this hand and that hand were hangings[…]
More examples (1)
For that the Proteſtants were then on the winning hand, it muſt needs be plain; who notwithſtanding the miſs of thoſe Forces which, at thir landing heer, maiſter’d without difficulty great part of Wales and Cheſhire, yet made a ſhift to keep thir ownw in Ireland.
Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
- Examples
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More examples (2)
My friend Will Honeycomb has told me, for above this half year, that he had a great mind to try his hand at a Spectator, and that he would fain have one of his writing in my works.
The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the Fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
An agent; a servant, or manual laborer; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty.
Usage- especially
- In compounds
- Examples
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Large farms need many farm hands.
More examples (2)
But a Dictionary of this ſort, containing, as it were, a Natural Hiſtory, requires too many hands, as well as too much time, coſt, pains, and ſagacity, ever to be hoped for; and till that be done, we muſt content our ſelves with ſuch Definitions of the Names of Subſtances, as explain the ſenſe Men uſe them in.
For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.
A performer more or less skilful.
- Examples
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an old hand at public speaking
I was always reckoned a lively hand at a simile.
More examples (1)
At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.
An instance of helping.
- Examples
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Bob gave Alice a hand to move the furniture.
What need have you of a hand who never fall?
More examples (1)
The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
Handwriting; style of penmanship.
- Examples
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a good hand
I ſay ſhe neuer did inuent this letter, / This is a mans inuention, and his hand.
More examples (5)
[…]I have ſometimes known a Poet in Danger of being convicted as a Thief, upon much worſe Evidence than the Reſemblance of Hands hath been held to be in the Law.
[…]I found written on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message[…]
'This is a strange note,' said Mr. Utterson; and then sharply, 'How do you come to have it open?' 'The man at Maw's was main angry, sir, and he threw it back to me like so much dirt,' returned Poole. 'This is unquestionably the doctor's hand, do you know?' resumed the lawyer. 'I thought it looked like it,' said the servant rather sulkily; and then, with another voice, 'But what matters hand of write,' he said. 'I've seen him!'
With an unquenchable enthusiasm for locomotives and their work, at an early age I had commenced to keep engine and traffic-recording notebooks, compiled in a schoolboy's round hand.
[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
A person's autograph or signature.
- Examples
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Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie Turke: Bearing his priuie ſignet and his hand, To ſafe conduct vs thorow Affrica: […]
Given under my Hand and Seal of the State this 1st Day of January, 2010.
Promise, word; especially of a betrothal.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
They once made Mourning and Fasting for the Death of the English Governor, who had given his Hand to come on such a Day to 'em, and neither came nor sent; believing, when a Man's Word was past, nothing but Death could or should prevent his keeping it: And when they saw he was not dead, they ask'd him what Name they had for a Man who promis'd a Thing he did not do?
Few would rely upon the word or oath of any man who had been known to break a hand-promise.
Personal possession; ownership.
- Examples
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Receiving in hand one year’s tribute.
Management, domain, control.
Usage- in-plural
- Examples
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in safe hands
in good hands
More examples (6)
With the business back in the founder's hands, there is new hope for the company.
With John in charge of the project, it's in good hands.
Foraſmuch as many haue taken in hande to ſet foorth in order a declaration of thoſe things which are moſt ſurely beleeued among vs[…]
It is my purpoſe to give a true and plain Account, of the Deſigns and Labours of a very great Philoſopher amongſt us; and to offer to the World, in ſome tollerable Method, thoſe Remains of his, which to that end, were put into my Hands.
But Albinus in thoſe troubleſome times enſuing under the ſhort reign of Pertinax and Didius Julianus, found means to keep in his hands the Government of Britain;
The method, in the hands of an experienced team of physicians and technicians, has become a relatively safe and useful procedure in the study of congenital heart disease and an accurate device for calculating cardiac output.
A hand which is free to assist; especially due to having one's hands full or otherwise fully preoccupied.
Usage- Colloquial
- in the negative plural
- Examples
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Just give me a minute — I haven't got any hands right now.
Applause.
- Examples
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Give him a hand.
More examples (3)
“Give him a hand, Pendennis; you know every chap likes a hand,” Mr. Foker said; and the good-natured young gentleman, and Pendennis laughing, and the dragoons in the opposite box, began clapping hands to the best of their power.
A member of the gay male nuns' collective, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, received one of the biggest hands of the evening when he included in a benediction litany the chant that lesbians and gays be "delivered from both of Dianne's faces."
Also a big hand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed "too entertaining" for Academy voters.
A Native American gambling game, involving guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or similar, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand.
Usage- Historical
The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.
A whole rhizome of ginger.
The feel of a fabric; the impression or quality of the fabric as judged qualitatively by the sense of touch.
- Examples
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This fabric has a smooth, soft hand.
For both the fifth and sixth fabrics, I used tussah noils as weft. The effect that makes in the hand of the fabrics and their apparent weight is striking.
More examples (1)
He finds that this double beat helps lock the weft in place and gives the cloth a sturdy, durable hand, perfect for a functional piece such as a runner.
Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
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And Gideon ſaid vnto God, If thou wilt ſaue Iſrael by mine hand,[…]
More examples (1)
They who thought they could never be ſecure in any Peace, except the King were firſt at their Mercy, and ſo obliged to accept the conditions they would give him, were willing to change the hand in carrying on the War: and many, who thought the Earl of Eſſex behaved himſelf too imperiouſly, were willing to have the Command in one who was more their equal.
Agency in transmission from one person to another.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
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to buy at first hand (from the producer, or when new)
to buy at second hand (when no longer in the producer’s hand, or when not new)
More examples (1)
It's not a rumor. I heard it at first hand.
Rate; price.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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For Time is the meaſure of Buſineſſe, as Money is of Wares: And Buſineſſe is bought at a deare Hand, where there is ſmall diſpatch.
Verb
To give, pass or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
Usage- Ditransitive
- Examples
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He handed them the letter. She handed me an opportunity.
More examples (2)
It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
However, Anyon Kay remembers a Mr Walton Ainsworth, of Beech House, Rivington, who owned mills in Bolton, being a regular user before the First World War. He used to drive by horse and trap from his mansion to catch the 0906 train to Bolton each day. Before arriving at the station, local newsagent Tom Dutton would hand Mr Ainsworth his morning paper!
To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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to hand a lady into a carriage
To manage.
Usage- Obsolete
- Transitive
- Examples
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I bleſs my Chain, I hand my Oar, / Nor think on all I left on Shoar.
To seize; to lay hands on.
Usage- Obsolete
- Transitive
- Examples
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wee will not hand a rope more
To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
Usage- Rare
- Transitive
To furl (a sail).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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send the people up to hand the sail, and when up, before they goon the yard, I'll clap the rolling tackle on to steady it
More examples (1)
In the very long run from the west side of America to Guam, among the Philippine Islands, ships seldom have occasion to hand their sails, so equal and steady is the gale, and yet they make it in about 60 days, which could not be if the wind blew only in the afternoon.
To cooperate.
Usage- Intransitive
- Obsolete
Noun
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he had the hands of a surgeon
he extended his mitt
a hired laborer on a farm or ranch
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the hired hand fixed the railing
a ranch hand
something written by hand
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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she recognized his handwriting
his hand was illegible
ability
- Examples
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he wanted to try his hand at singing
a position given by its location to the side of an object
- Broader terms
- Examples
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objections were voiced on every hand
the cards held in a card game by a given player at any given time
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I didn't hold a good hand all evening
he kept trying to see my hand
one of two sides of an issue
- Broader terms
- Examples
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on the one hand … , but on the other hand …
a rotating pointer on the face of a timepiece
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the big hand counts the minutes
a unit of length equal to 4 inches; used in measuring horses
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the horse stood 20 hands
a member of the crew of a ship
- Broader terms
- Examples
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all hands on deck
a card player in a game of bridge
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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we need a 4th hand for bridge
a round of applause to signify approval
- Broader terms
- Examples
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give the little lady a great big hand
terminal part of the forelimb in certain vertebrates (e.g. apes or kangaroos)
- Broader terms
physical assistance
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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give me a hand with the chores
Verb
place into the hands or custody of
- Broader terms
- Examples
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hand me the spoon, please
Turn the files over to me, please
More examples (1)
He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers
guide or conduct or usher somewhere
- Examples
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hand the elderly lady into the taxi