hand — OAT · Shobdo

hand

noun

1 big, strong hands:

fist, palm;

informal paw, mitt, duke, hook, meat hook;

Scottish, & Northern English nieve;

technical manus, metacarpus.

▷antonyms foot.

2 the clock's second hand:

pointer, indicator, needle, arrow, marker, index.

3 (hands) the concentration of wealth in the hands of the entrepreneurial class:

control, power, charge, authority;

command, responsibility, guardianship, management, care, supervision, jurisdiction;

possession, keeping, custody, clutches, grasp;

disposal;

informal say-so;

literary thrall.

4 come and give me a hand with the tidying up:

help, a helping hand, assistance, aid, support, succor, relief;

a good turn, a favor, a kindness;

rare abettance.

▷antonyms hindrance.

5 informal his fans gave him a big hand:

round of applause, clap, handclap, ovation, standing ovation;

applause, handclapping, praise, acclaim.

▷antonyms booing; catcalls.

6 the document was written in his own hand:

handwriting, writing, script, longhand, letters, pen;

penmanship, calligraphy, chirography.

7 a factory hand:

worker, factory worker, manual worker, unskilled worker, blue-collar worker, workman, workwoman, workperson, working man, laborer, operative, hired hand, hireling, roustabout, employee, artisan;

farmhand, farm worker, field hand;

crewman, sailor, deckhand;

in Spanish America peon;

Australian, New Zealand rouseabout;

Indian mazdoor, khalasi;

archaic mechanical.

□ at hand

1 you need to keep the manual close at hand:

readily available, available, handy, to hand, near at hand, within reach, accessible, ready, close, close by, near, nearby, at the ready, at one's fingertips, at one's disposal, convenient;

informal get-at-able, on tap.

▷antonyms far away.

2 the time for starting the campaign is at hand:

imminent, close at hand, approaching, forthcoming, coming, coming soon, about to happen, nearly on us, just around the corner, on the horizon;

impending.

▷antonyms a long time away.

□ by hand

each chocolate is decorated by hand:

manually, with one's hands, using one's hands, not by machine, not mechanically, freehand.

▷antonyms by machine.

□ from hand to mouth

they live from hand to mouth—from one benefit day to the next:

precariously, from day to day, not knowing where one's next meal is coming from, uncertainly, insecurely, in poverty, meagerly;

improvidently;

British on the breadline.

▷antonyms securely; without financial worries.

□ get one's hands on (also lay one's hands on) informal

I haven't got my hands on a copy yet |

thieves break into parked vehicles and steal anything they can lay their hands on:

obtain, acquire, come by, secure, procure, come into possession of, pick up, be given;

gain, derive, earn, achieve, attain, win, draw, reap;

buy, purchase;

informal get/lay hold of, get one's mitts on, grab, bag, land, net;

British, informal blag;

South African, informal schlenter.

□ hand in glove

they were working hand in glove with our enemies:

in close collaboration, in close association, in close cooperation, very closely, closely together, in partnership, in league, in collusion;

informal in cahoots.

□ hand in hand

1 two small children were walking hand in hand:

holding hands, clasping hands, with hands clasped, with hands joined;

arm in arm.

2 poverty goes hand in hand with war:

in close association, closely together, together, in partnership, closely, conjointly, concurrently, side by side, in concert.

□ hands down

we won hands down:

easily, effortlessly, with ease, with no trouble, with very little trouble, without effort, with very little effort;

informal by a mile, no sweat.

▷antonyms with difficulty.

□ have a hand in something

she had a hand in writing the lyrics:

play a part in, contribute to, be a factor in, be (partly) responsible for.

□ in hand

1 the task in hand:

being dealt with, receiving attention, being attended to, under way;

under control.

2 we have money in hand to cover next month's expenses:

available for use, ready, available, put by;

spare, in reserve.

□ old hand

whether you are a novice gardener or an old hand:

expert, past master, virtuoso, master, wizard, genius, artist, adept, professional, doyen, veteran, maestro, connoisseur, authority, grandmaster, master hand, skilled person;

informal ace, buff, pro, star, whiz, hotshot;

British, informal dab hand;

North American, informal maven, crackerjack.

□ on hand

police and volunteers were on hand to keep things running smoothly:

ready, at the ready, available, accessible, handy, at one's fingertips;

prepared, primed, on standby, standing by, on stand-to, on call, on full alert;

informal on tap.

□ out of hand

the situation was getting out of hand:

out of control, uncontrollable, unmanageable, ungovernable, unruly, disorderly, rowdy, wild, boisterous, difficult, disruptive, ill-disciplined, undisciplined, refractory, recalcitrant, intractable, impossible, obstreperous, fractious, wayward, incorrigible;

informal stroppy;

archaic contumacious.

▷antonyms manageable, controllable.

□ take someone or something in hand

their parents are incapable of taking their children in hand |

matters have to be taken in hand:

deal with, handle, manage, cope with, tackle, take care of, take charge of, attend to, give one's attention to, see to, sort out.

□ to hand

the bullies pelted us with anything that was to hand:

readily available, available, handy, near at hand, within reach, accessible, ready, close, close by, near, nearby, at the ready, at one's fingertips, at one's disposal, convenient;

informal get-at-able.

verb

1 he handed each man a glass:

pass, give, reach, let someone have, throw, toss;

pass to, hand over to, deliver to, present to, transfer to, convey to;

informal chuck, bung.

▷antonyms take away from.

2 he handed him into a carriage:

assist, help, aid, give someone a hand, give someone a helping hand, give someone assistance;

guide, convey, conduct, lead.

□ hand something down

the family jewelry is handed down from generation to generation:

pass on, pass down;

bequeath, will, leave, leave in one's will, make over, endow, gift, transfer, give, transmit;

Law demise, devise.

□ hand something on

the drugs were handed on to a dealer:

give, pass, hand, transfer, grant, cede, surrender, relinquish;

part with, let go of;

bequeath, will, leave.

▷antonyms receive.

□ hand something out

the attendant handed out prayer books:

distribute, hand around, give out, give around, pass out, pass around, share out, dole out, dish out, deal out, mete out, issue, circulate, dispense;

allocate, allot, apportion, disburse, disseminate.

▷antonyms collect in.

□ hand something over

it is suggested that he might hand over power to his son:

yield, give, give up, pass, grant, entrust, surrender, relinquish, cede, turn over, deliver up, forfeit, sacrifice;

confer on, bestow on.

▷antonyms keep.

word links	hand
manual relating to the hands chiro- related prefix, as in chirography, chiropody