| 释义 |
▪ I. hand, n.|hænd|
Forms: α. 1–5 hond, 4 hoond(e, 4–6 honde. β. 1– hand, 4 haunde, 4–7 hande. pl. α. 1 honda, 2–4 honde, 4 hond; 1 handa, 2–4 hande. β. 2–5 honden, (2 -an, 5 -on). γ. 4 heind, 4–5 hend, hende. δ. 3–6 hondes. 4–5 -is, 5 -us, -s; 4–7 handes, 5 -us, 5–6 -is, -ys, 4– hands.
[Com. Teut.: OE. hand, hǫnd, fem. u-stem, pl. -a, = OFris. hand, hond (pl. honda), OS. hand (pl. hendi), OHG. hant (pl. henti), ON. hǫnd (genit. handar, pl. hendr), Goth. handus (pl. handjus). Regarded by some as belonging to Goth. -hinþan, pa. pple. -hunþans to seize; but this is doubtful. The original OE. pl. handa, ME. hande, was (like other plurals in -e), superseded in ME. by handen, and this eventually by handes, hands. Northern Eng. had in 14–15th c. an umlaut-plural hend from Norse.]
A. Illustration of the plural forms.
αc1000Ags. Gosp. John xx. 20 He æt-ywde him his handa [Lindisf. ða hónd, Rushw. hond], and his sidan. c1160Hatton Gosp. Matt. iv. 6 On heora hande. c1175Lamb. Hom. 149 His fet and his honde. c1200Ormin 14673 Abraham..band itt fét & hande. a1300K. Horn 112 Wringinde here honde. c1330Amis & Amil. 156 Therto thai held vp her hond. c1380Sir Ferumb. 2658 He hew of heuedes, armes, and haunde.
βc1160Hatton Gosp. John xx. 20 He ateowede heom hys handen. c1175Lamb. Hom. 23 His fet and his hondan. Ibid. 91 Heo setten heore honden [101 here hondan] ofer ilefde men. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 10/304 Oþur heore hondene oþur baþeden al. c1400A. Davy Dreams 95 He vnneiled his honden two. c1420Chron. Vilod. 1224 My hondon and my fete.
γa1300Cursor M. 3566 His hend [v.rr. hende, handes, hondes] vnquemli for to quak. Ibid. 17142 (Gött.) Take vte mi herte bituix þi heind [Cott. hend]. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 3214 Bunden by hend and fete. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 5 Þe pece..to þe whilk his hend ware nailed. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 7 God has maide man with his hend. c1475Babees Bk. 200 Somme holde the clothe, somme poure vpon his hende.
δc1205Lay. 10187 Heo letten heom draȝen vt oðer bi hondes oðer bi fot. a1300Cursor M. 3678 Sco..couerd þar-wit his hands [v. rr. handis, handes, hondes] als. 1382Wyclif 2 Sam. xvii. 2 The hoondis feblid. c1400Apol. Loll. 28 Þe handus leyd vpon. c1430Stans Puer 22 in Babees Bk. 29 Þin hondis waische also. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxxxvii[i]. 9, I..stretch out my hondes vnto the.
B. Signification.
General arrangement. I. The simple word. *The member, its use, its position, 1–6. ** As representing the person, 7–10. *** As put for its capacity or performance, 11–17. **** Something like a hand, 18–22. ***** That which is held in the hand, 23–24. II. Phrases. * With governing preposition, 25–36. ** With verb and preposition, 37–42. *** With governing verb, 43–47. **** With qualifying adjective, 48–52. ***** With an adverb, 53–55. ****** With another noun, 56–61. ******* Proverbial phrases and locutions, 62. III. Attributive uses and Combinations, 63–65.
I. The simple word.
* The member, its action, its position, its symbolic use.
1. The terminal part of the arm beyond the wrist, consisting of the palm and five digits, forming the organ of prehension characteristic of man. The name is also given to the similar members forming the terminations of all four limbs in the quadrumanous animals or monkeys.
c825Vesp. Psalter cxxvi[i]. 4 Strelas in honda mæhtᵹes. Ibid. cxxviii[i]. 7 Ne ᵹefylleð hond his se ripeð. c1000Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 264/32 Manus, hand. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3336 Moyses helde up his hond. c1386Chaucer Prol. 107 In his hand [v.rr. hond, honde] he baar a myghty bowe. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 125, I bryng rekyls..Here in myn hende. 1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 234 Then eche Prince layed his right hand on y⊇ Missal, and his left hand on the holy Crosse, and toke there a solempne othe. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 108 As long as their hands were able to holde a penne. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 67 Here walk'd a French Fop with both his Hands in his Pockets. 1817Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves (1862) 215 And when the Vicar joined their hands, Her limbs did creep and freeze. 1828Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 31 This opposition of a fifth member to the other four constitutes what is properly called the hand. 1842Tennyson Break, Break, Break iii, O for the touch of a vanish'd hand. 1863Huxley Man's Place Nat. ii. 90 The Gorilla's hand is clumsier, heavier, and has a thumb somewhat shorter in proportion than that of a man; but no one has ever doubted its being a true hand.
b. The terminal part of the fore-limb in quadrupeds, esp. when prehensile; the fore-foot. Also more widely applied to the terminal part of any limb of an animal when prehensile. In Anat. and Zool., the terminal part of the ‘arm’ or fore-limb in all vertebrates above fishes; also applied to the prehensile claw or chela in crustaceans, and formerly to the tarsus of the anterior leg in insects.
1382Wyclif Prov. xxx. 28 A lisard with hondis cleueth. 1535Coverdale Ibid., The spyder laboureth with hir handes. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 341 [A hyæna] coming to a Man asleep in a Sheep-cot, by laying her left hand or fore-foot to his mouth, made or cast him into a deed-sleep. 1639T. Brugis tr. Camus' Mor. Relat. 159 The Lizard..raceth out with her tayle, the markes which with her hands she printed in the sand. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Hand, in falconry, is used for the foot of the hawk..Hand, in the manage..sometimes..stands for the fore-feet of an horse. 1852Dana Crust. i. 428 Hands subtuberculate.
†c. transf. The whole arm. Obs.
1615Crooke Body of Man 728 The vpper ioyntes are called by the common name of the Hand, for the Ancients accounted the whole member from the shoulder to the fingers ends to bee all the Hand. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 302 The limbs are divided into the hands and feet, and the hand into the shoulder, cubit, and extremity. 1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., The hand, among anatomists, extends from the shoulder to the fingers ends: this is called also the greater hand.
†d. The trunk of an elephant. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 162 They reverence the Sun rising, holding up their trunck or hand to heaven. [1843Macaulay Lays, Prophecy of Capys xxiv, The beast who hath between his eyes The serpent for a hand.] 1859Tennyson Vivien 576 The brutes of mountain back..with their serpent hands. [Cf. Skr. hasti the ‘handed’.]
e. fig.
1592T. Timme 10 Eng. Lepers B b, Moses and Aaron are but Gods hands, Gods lieutenants here in earth. 1653A. Wilson Jas. I, Pref. 5, I..look to be Anatomized myself by the Hand of Opinion. 1724R. Falconer Voy. (1769) 3 Safe from the griping Hands of the Law. 1877Brockett Cross & Cr. 32 To crumble beneath the hand of time.
f. pl. In Association Football, the illegal handling of the ball.
1894Branscombe & ‘Ross’ Morocco Bound ii. 28 The statute demands A free kick for hands! 1897[see handling vbl. n. 1 c]. 1967Assoc. Football (Know the Game Series) 28 (caption) Area covered by ‘Hands’.
2. In reference to the use of the hand for grasping, holding, or retaining; hence used to denote possession, custody, charge, authority, power, disposal: usually in phr. in (into, to, etc.) the hands of, in other hands, etc.
c825Vesp. Psalter xxx[i]. 16 [15] Genere me of hondum feonda minra. c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxviii[i]. 109 Is sawl min symble on ðinum holdum handum. c1290Beket 357 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 116 Þe bischopriches fullen boþe In-to þe kingus hond. a1300Cursor M. 22265 Þar sal he bath yield up of hand, His corun and his king wand. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 140 Manye men dieden in hise handis bi þis wey. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 18 Many oþer landes he haldes in his hand. a1530Pace Let. to Wolsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. lxxxi. 199 In Pacquett off Lettres..comyn to my handis thys mornynge. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 106 The Frenchemen..thinkyng the victory to be in their handes. 1606Dekker Sev. Sinnes 35 They..take the lawe into their owne handes, and doe what they list. 1611Bible Gen. xvi. 6 Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. 1709Steele Tatler No. 53 ⁋11 The Citadel will be in the Hands of the Allies before the last Day of this Month. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 593 The land..round his pleasure grounds was in his own hands. 1889Doyle M. Clarke iii. 25 Not once in a month did a common newsletter fall into our hands.
b. In Roman Law (tr. L. manus): the power of the husband over his wife.
1875Poste Gaius i. §111 Possession invested the husband with right of Hand after a whole year of unbroken co-habitation. Ibid. Comm. (ed. 2) 97 According to Cicero, the wife was only called materfamilias when subject to Hand. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. xi 313 [In early Roman Law] the wife was said to come under the hand of her husband.
3. In reference to action performed with the hand, and hence (fig.) to action generally; thus, often = agency, instrumentality: esp. in phr. by the hand(s of, by (a person's) hand.
c825Vesp. Psalter cviii[i]. 27 Ðæt witen ðætte hond ðin ðeos is. c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxvi. 17 [lxxvii. 20] Folc þin ðu feredest..þurh Moyses mihtiᵹe handa. c1175Lamb. Hom. 91 Þa warhte god feole tacne..þurh þere apostlan hondan. c1440Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 235 Makyth clene ȝoure handys, þat is, ȝoure werkys. 1535Coverdale Judg. vi. 36 Yf thou wilt delyuer Israel thorow my hande. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 4 If everie one did not put to his helping hand for the correction and reformation of them. 1639Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 58 To suffer by the hands of the hangman. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §8 If some..attribute such things to Gods immediate hand. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 305, I sent it by the Hand of an Enemy. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 226 Many..eminent Stoics died by their own hands. 1847De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun Wks. III. 11 She could turn her hand to anything.
b. Part or share in the doing of something: esp. in phrase, to have a hand in.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. ii. 140 In which you (Father) shall haue formost hand. 1625Bacon Ess., Empire (Arb.) 303 His Queen had the principall hand in the Deposing and Murther of her Husband. 1776Goldsm. Vic. W. i, We had two romantic names in the family; but I solemnly protest I had no hand in it. 1837C. M. Goodridge Voy. S. Seas (1843) 122, I am at a loss myself to discover what hand the moon could have had in it.
4. In reference to the position of the hands, one on each side of the body: Side (right or left); hence more generally, side, direction, quarter. Also fig. (See also 10 and 32 h, i, j.)
c1000ælfric Gen. xlviii. 13 Sette Ephraim on his swiþran hand þæt wæs on Israheles wynstran hand. c1205Lay. 14734 Heo iseȝen an heore riht hond, a swiþe fæier æit-lond. c1320Sir Tristr. 357 Chese on aiþer hand Wheþer þe leuer war Sink or stille stand. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 795 At the last he came out..with a Bishop on every hand of him. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 93 All Gallowa and Walis of Annand, And all the dalis on the efter hand. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 73 On the other hande or syde of the gate, was set a pillar. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 91 When you are there, turne on the right hand, and then on the left hand. 1627J. Doughty Divine Myst. (1628) 12 Schoolmen do alwaies incline to the worse hand. 1711Addison Spect. No. 3 ⁋5 The Floor, on her right Hand, and on her left, was covered with vast Sums of Gold. 1884Manch. Exam. 8 Sept. 8/6 The mountains on either hand become loftier and steeper.
b. fig. In various phrases with present participles, expressing a way, direction, or tendency as opposed to its contrary; as on (upon, in, of) the mending hand, i.e. in the way to mend or recover, getting better; so also with advancing, growing, thriving, declining, gaining, losing, suffering, giving, receiving, etc. arch. and dial.
1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. i. ii. 3 Giuing out that Augustus was on the mending hand. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xviii. (1739) 95 What the Chancery was in times past, hath been already shewed; still it is in the growing and gaining hand. 1701J. Law Counc. Trade (1751) 187 When the nation shall once be brought as much upon the thriving or growing, as now it is upon the declining hand. 1789Wesley Wks. (1872) XII. 439 Mr. Wrigley..is now also on the mending hand. 1828Craven Dial. s.v., ‘To be on the mending hand’, to be in a state of convalescence. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. vi. iv. (1865) II. 166 Freidrich Wilhelm's ill-humour..has long been upon the growing hand.
†c. In phr. at a bad hand, at the worst hand, = positions, case. Obs.
c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 352 He saw well that his folke was at the worste hande. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ iii. 421 Paulus..at worst hand hath related it in good and true Latine. 1640Fuller Joseph's Coat iv. (1867) 144 Is the world at this bad hand..that one must be far from trusting their nearest friends?
5. As used in various ways in making a promise or oath; spec. as the symbol of troth-plight in marriage; pledge of marriage; bestowal in marriage. Also as a symbol of acceptance of an invitation to dance.
c1320Sir Tristr. 50 Þer to þai bed her hond To heiȝe and holden priis. c1330Amis & Amil. 156 Therto thai held vp her hond. 13..Coer de L. 604 On the book they layde her hand, To that forewarde for to stand. 1390Gower Conf. I. 95 Have here min honde, I shal the wedde. a1440Sir Eglam. 245 ‘Ȝys’, seyde the erle, ‘here myn honde!’ Hys trowthe to hym he strake. 1586W. Massie Marriage Serm., Many a one for land takes a foole by the hand. 1605Shakes. Lear iv. v. 31 More convenient is he for my hand Than for your Ladies. 1775Sheridan Duenna iii. vii, In obedience to your commands, I gave him my hand within this hour. 1813Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. xviii. 208 When the dancing recommenced..and Darcy approached to claim her hand. a1817― Northang. Abb. (1818) II. i. 15 After aspiring to my hand, there was nobody else in the room he could bear to think of. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxix, Catharine's hand is promised—promised to a man whom you may hate. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. ii. (1894) 47 Marriage is honoured, and the heart always follows the hand.
†6. Hence, In oaths and asseverations. (See also right hand.) Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 3313 ‘Say me now’, he said, ‘be þi hand, Has þou any fader liuand?’ 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 194 Master, for my hand, Both our inuentions meet and iumpe in one. 1599― Much Ado iv. i. 327 Bene. Tarry good Beatrice, by this hand I loue thee. Beat. Vse it for my loue some other way then swearing by it. 1601― All's Well iii. vi. 76 By the hand of a souldier I will undertake it. 1636Davenant Platonic Lovers Wks. (1673) 386 A comely old fellow, by this hand.
** As representing the person.
7. In reference to the person who does something with his hands; hence often denoting the person in relation to his action.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 5 The Nourse of time and ever-lasting fame, That warlike handes ennoblest with immortall name. 1598Barret Theor. Warres iii. ii. 77 The quadrate of ground..wherein many hands are brought at one time to fight. 1615J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 242 Except some charitable hand reclaimes him. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 177 The Pentateuch..was translated..by different hands. 1893E. M. Thompson Gk. & Lat. Palæogr. xi. 150 Additions..by the hand that retouched the writing.
b. spec. In reference to an artist, musician, writer, actor, etc. as the performer of some work; hence sometimes used to denote the person himself.
1644Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 70 Painted in miniature by rare hands. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. Pref. (1845) 9 These Papers..[as well] as those of the same hand that have preceded them. 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 86 Paintings, by the most celebrated Hands. 1738Daily Post 12 July, A Band of Musick, consisting of the best hands from the Opera, and both the Theatres. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. 7 Everything about them indicates that they come from the same hand. 1965Listener 3 June 835/3 A major document of the post-Symbolist movement in Spain, with English versions by eleven hands, the ‘hands’ including W. S. Merwin,..and James Wright.
8. A person employed by another in any manual work; a workman or workwoman.
1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §14 Many hands applicable to the same force, some standing, others sitting. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 42 Those hands..that must be employed in their building. 1721Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. III. 200 Manufactures, which..would employ many hands. 1771Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 29 My son has lately lost his principal hand by death. 1778Eng. Gaz. (ed. 2) s.v. Kettering, Near 2000 hands are said to be employed here in the manufactory of shalloons, tammies and serges. 1856Olmsted Slave States 433 The children beginning as ‘quarter-hands’, advancing to ‘half-hands’, and then to ‘three-quarter hands’; and, finally, to ‘full hands’. 1886Froude Oceana i. 7 The ‘hands’ and the ‘hands'’ wives and children.
b. spec. Each of the sailors belonging to a ship's crew. all hands: the whole crew.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 18 Come aft all hands. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 312 In the Morning we put 35 good Hands aboard her. 1726G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 13, I shipped Hands and began to get things ready as fast as I could. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 515 All hands on board perished. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 144 Another hand would not have been amiss. Ibid., She has just hands enough to weigh anchor.
c. Hence (colloq.) all hands: all the members of a party, esp. when collectively engaged in work.
1703Farquhar Inconstant iv. i, Come, gentlemen, all hands to work. 1726G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 263 Then all Hands went to fishing. 1860Dickens Uncomm. Trav. v, If all hands had been got together, they would not have more than half filled the room.
9. colloq. Used (with defining adj.) of a person in reference to his ability or skill in doing something. (See also old hand.) Usually with at.
1792Cowper Let. 30 Mar. He..might be one of our first hands in poetry. 1797G. Washington Let. Writ. 1892 XIII. 422 A rare hand at all obsolete claims that depend much on a good memory. 1830J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) I. 227, I am a bad hand at criticising men. 1833H. Martineau Loom & Lugger ii. iii. 45 He was always but a poor hand at writing a letter. 1858A. W. Drayson Sporting S. Africa 48 ‘Do you sketch?’ ‘Well, I'm no hand at that’. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 280 He was a good hand at singlestick.
b. colloq. or slang. Used (with defining adj.) of a person in reference to his action or character.
1798I. Milner in Life ix. (1842) 162 His moral character was exceedingly bad..he is still a loose hand. 1860Russell Diary India II. 146 (Hoppe) Little S., the Major's partner..is well known as a cool hand.
†10. Used of or in reference to a person as the source from which something is obtained (cf. 4):
a. as the source of information, etc. (usually with defining adj. indicating the degree of trustworthiness.) Obs.
1614J. Chamberlain in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) I. 334, I have heard it, through several ways, from good hands. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 164 He had it from a very good hand, that the King of Poland had sent an Ambassador. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 30 Jan., An account..which I have been very solicitous to get from the best hands. 1811J. W. Croker in C. Papers June (1884), I hear from a good hand that the King is doing much better.
†b. as the supplier of goods: in phrases denoting rate or price (with qualifying adj.), as at the best hand, most profitably or cheaply; so at the better hand, at the dear hand. Obs.
1552Huloet, Bye dearer, or at the last hande. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. xxxiii. 82 b, To the end our Merchaunts..might..buye theyr Spices at the better hande. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 3 For the procuring of which..commodities at the best and first hand. 1696J. F. Merchants' Ware-ho. 11 The whole sute is generally sold at the best hand for three Pound ten. 1712Steele Spect. No. 288 ⁋3 Buying and importing..Linens, and Pictures, at the best hand. 1767Cowper Let. to Hill 14 May Wks. 1837 XV. 16, I might..serve your Honour with cauliflowers and broccoli at the best hand.
c. With ordinal numerals, indicating a series of so many persons through whom something passes. See also first hand, second hand.
1439Rolls of Parlt. V. 32/1 Your Lieges selle the Merchandises..in the said Contres, and at the first hand bye ayeinward Merchandises of the same Contres. 1551Edw. VI Lit. Rem. (Roxb.) II. 504 We should by all thinges at the first hand of straungers. 1589Hay any Work 44, I had it [the tale] at the second hand. 1624Bedell Lett. xi. 141 You haue it but at the third, or fourth hand, perhaps the thirtieth or fortieth. 1713Ockley Acc. Barbary Pref. (1718) 11 The Uncertainty which attends the writing Things at second Hand. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. xxv. 273 Very few of the members..had been in England so as to know her constitution..at first hand.
*** As put for its capacity or performance.
11. Capacity of doing something with the hand, and hence of doing generally; skill, ability, knack.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxviii. (1495) 137 We sayen thyse haue a good hond, that is to vnderstonde, a good crafte of wrytynge other of payntynge. 1539Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 416 You be indeed scius artifex, and hath a good hand to renew old bottles. 1586Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 130 The perfection of his hand in the variety and neat delivery of his letters in writing. 1699Bentley Phal. 297, I cannot but take notice of his unlucky Hand, whenever he meddles with Authors. 1708Motteux Rabelais v. xx, I have no hand at making of Speeches. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, I had always a hand at carpentry. 1881E. D. Brickwood in Encycl. Brit. XII. 197/1 The ‘hand for crust’ which is denied to many cooks and cannot be learned.
12. Horsemanship. In various expressions referring to the management of the reins and bit with the hand; often = skill in handling the reins.
1375Barbour Bruce ii. 120 For thar na horss is in this land Sa wycht, na ȝeit sa weill at hand. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 157 b, The father..ought in this doubt, to carrie a heavie hand, rather than a light, on the bridle. 1686N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (ed. 3) 54 In a short time he will..be at such command upon the hand, that he will strike at what rate you please. 1725–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., A horseman is said to have no hand, when he only makes use of the bridle unseasonably. 1807Sir R. Wilson Jrnl. 22 June in Life (1862) II. viii. 279 She not only sits gracefully but has a master's hand. 1875G. J. Whyte-Melville Riding Recoll. v. (1879) 73 Strong of seat, and firm of hand. 1881E. D. Brickwood in Encycl. Brit. XII. 197/1 Much depends on the rider having good hands... A rider with good hands never depends upon his reins for retaining his seat. Ibid. 199/1 A jockey must therefore..have a hand for all sorts of horses, and in the case of two and three year olds a very good hand it must be.
b. See quot.
1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v., Hand is also used for a division of the horse into two parts, with respect to the rider's hand. The fore-hand includes the head, neck, and fore-quarters. The hind-hand is all the rest of the horse.
13. The performance of an artist, etc.; execution, handiwork; style of execution; ‘touch’. † Also concr. The product of artistic skill; handiwork.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 438 Among thick-wov'n Arborets and Flours Imborderd on each Bank, the hand of Eve. 1671― P.R. iv. 57 Carved work, the hand of famed artificers In cedar, marble, ivory or gold. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 77 By what I have seen of his hand, particularly his own head at Houghton, he was an admirable master. 1883Athenæum 30 June 834/2 An exhaustive acumen in discriminating styles and ‘hands’ [in prints].
b. Touch, stroke (in phr. last hand, etc.).
1648Gage West Ind. Ep. Ded. A iij b, The last hand of the Painter. 1707Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 132 An opportunity of putting the last hand to the happy union of the 2 kingdoms. 1755T. Amory Mem. (1769) II. 154 An itinerary I am giving the last hand to. 1760–72tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 291 Willing to put the finishing hand to our principal work. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ix. 376 The compiler did not put his last hand to the work.
14. A turn or innings in certain games, as cricket, racquets, billiards. (See also 23 c.)
17..Laws of Cricket in Grace Cricket (1891) 15 To allow 2 minutes for each man to come in when one is out, and 10 minutes between Each Hand to mark y⊇ Ball, that it may not be changed. 1819Hazlitt in Every-day Bk. (1825) 868 The four best racket-players of that day..Davies could give any one of these two hands a time, that is half the game. 1884Lillywhite's Cricket Ann. 45 Fine all-round fielding enabled them to get Marylebone out for 80 in their second hands. 1894Times 6 Mar. 7/2 (Racquets) Mr. Dawkins opened, and in the sixth hand he went from 5–3 to 14–3. 1897Daily Chron. 16 Feb. 5/6 (Billiards) Peall had four or five hands to score 16, but the champion could only muster a 40 and a 50.
b. A member of a cricket eleven.
1731in H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores (1899) 4 The Duke's hands came in first. 1874Baily's Monthly Mag. Dec. 155 Seven of the eleven..were new hands.
†c. A score in cricket. Obs.
1833J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 104 He would often get long hands. 1836New Sporting Mag. Oct. 361 [Which number] added to the byes they stole, and the wide balls bowled, sufficed to make a hands of eighty-six runs. 1875Baily's Monthly Mag. Sept. 273 Let me see him make a good hand against good bowling.
15. A round of applause. Esp. in present-day use in phr. to give (or get, etc.) a big (or good) hand: to give, etc., a large round of applause (orig. U.S.).
1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 444 Giue me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxix. 284 He has gone on night after night, never getting a hand and you getting a couple of rounds at least. 1849Theatrical Programme 18 June 30 Buskin's part goes without a hand—Lamp carries off all the honours. 1883G. B. Shaw How to become Mus. Critic (1960) 48 The dance-tunes, played by an indifferent band, went almost without a hand. 1886Lantern (New Orleans) 6 Oct. 4/3 Their act always pulls a big hand. 1896Punch 10 Oct. 180/2 Aeschylus..wrote tragedies in blank verse, but they are not now played at any London theatre. He would not get a ‘hand’ nowadays. 1922C. Sandburg Slabs of Sunburnt West 39 It's a good act—we got a good hand. 1924H. A. Vachell Quinney's Adv. 179 The second curtain fell without ‘a hand’. 1927Prince of Wales in Even. News 7 Oct. 6/5 They both do a great deal of hard work for the British Legion. It may be I am more the fellow who travels about and gets the hands. 1932A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 40 He always gets a good hand when he appears in a London theatre. 1948Prairie Club Bull. June 14 Three lusty cheers and a big hand for Charles, Our Star Square Dance Host! 1959Listener 28 May 958/3 A deed which earned what our Quiz compères insist on calling ‘a big hand’.
16. The action of the hand in writing and its product; handwriting; style of writing; esp. as belonging to a particular person, country, period, profession, etc. (See also court-hand, short-hand, etc.).
1390Gower Conf. III. 305 To make an ende And write ayein her owne honde. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 782 Written in Parchement in a fayre set hande. 1530Palsgr. 433/1 He goeth to the writyng scole, but his hande appayreth every daye. 1542Udall Erasm. Apopth. ii. (1877) 251 Written in greate letters of texte hande. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 276 He wrote a running hand. 1660Willsford Scales Comm. To Rdr. A ij, Mr. Nathanael Sharp, who writeth all the usuall hands writ in this Nation. 1705Hearne Collect. 31 Aug., A French woman writ the Proverbs..in variety of Hands. 1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 110 ⁋4 A Letter which he acknowledged to be his own Hand was read. 1840Lytton Money i. iii, But he will recognize my hand. 1893E. M. Thompson Gk. & Lat. Palæogr. xix. 301 We find it convenient to treat the cursive or charter-hand as a separate branch of mediæval English writing apart from the literary or book-hand.
b. hand of writ, write (Sc.) = prec. sense; also transf. said of the person.
1816Scott Antiq. xv, ‘Div ye think naebody can read hand o' writ but yoursell?’ 1870Ramsay Remin. v. (ed. 18) 118, I am not a good hand of write. 1890Stevenson Vailima Lett. (1895) 14, I request a specimen of your hand of write.
17. The name of a person written with his own hand as an attestation of a document; signature. Obs. or arch., exc. in phrases in which hand is now understood more literally. So also under the hand of, 35 d. note of hand: see note.
1534Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 3 §4 Euery writinge..subscribed with the hande and name of the clerke of the hanaper. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 29 Notwith⁓standynge his othe..and his awne hand and seale. 1607Dekker Hist. Sir T. Wyatt Wks. 1873 III. 84 Will you not subscribe your hand with other of the Lords? 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 288 Dor. Is it true too, thinke you. Autol. Fiue Iustices hands at it, and witnesses more then my packe will hold. 1640S. D'Ewes in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 167 A petition..from the Cittie of London accompanied with fifteene thousand hands. 1666Pepys Diary 25 Sept. (1879) IV. 92 By Coach to Lord Brouncker's, and got his hand to it. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 41 In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals. Mod. (Form of testing clause) As witness the hands of the said A. B. and C. D.
**** Something like or of the size of a hand.
18. An image or figure of a hand.
c825Vesp. Psalter cxiii. [cxv.] 7 Honda habbað and ne grapiað. 1535Coverdale Ibid., Their ymages..haue handes and handle not. 1644Bulwer Chirol. 165 The custome of the Romans..to erect a statue of Mercurie with the Fore-Finger pointing out the maine road, in imitation whereof..we have in such places notes of direction; such is the Hand of St. Albans. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. xvii. 399/1 He beareth Vert, a Hand proper, holding of a Pen. 1717Frezier Voy. S. Sea 242 The Ladies wear..a little Jeat Hand..called Higa, the Fingers closed, but the Thumb standing out. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ix, A great wooden hand,—a glove-maker's sign.
b. A conventional figure of a hand with the forefinger extended (☛), used in writing or printing to draw attention to something.
1612Brinsley Pos. Parts (1669) p. iv, A Hand pointing at some places which are of most necessary use.
c. A device shaped like a hand.
1830M. Edgeworth Let. 6 Dec. (1971) 439 Mr. Turner..had shewn me the bank of England and the famous machine-hand which weighs the guineas without assistance from mortal touch. 1873Young Englishwoman Jan. 52/1 Will any one..tell her how to clean white..gloves. She possesses wooden hands for stretching them on. 1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1008/2 Dairy utensils... Scotch hands [for shaping butter].
19. The pointer or index which indicates the divisions of a dial, esp. that of a clock or watch. (See hour-, minute-, seconds-hand.)
1575Laneham Let. (1871) 55 The handz of both the tablz stood firm and fast, allweyz poynting too iust too a clok. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 119. 1661 Humane Industry 100 Now this animated needle shews with the Lilly⁓hand..the North. 1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5863/4 A striking Gold Watch with an Alarm, Hour-Hand and Minute-Hand. 1781Cowper Retirement 681 An idler is a watch that wants both hands, As useless if it goes as when it stands. 1846Longfellow Old Clock on Stairs ii, Half-way up the stair it stands, And points and beckons with its hands.
20. A lineal measure, formerly taken as equal to three inches, but now to four; a palm, a hand-breadth. Now used only in giving the height of horses and the like.
1561Eden Arte Nauig. i. xviii. 19 Foure graines of barlye make a fynger: foure fingers a hande: foure handes a foote. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 102 Prickles..of two or three hands length. 1664Butler Hud. ii. i. 694 A Roan Gelding twelve Hands high. 1810Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 196 A galloway under fourteen hands. 1857G. Lawrence Guy Liv. (Tauchn.) 67 (Hoppe) A chestnut standing full sixteen hands.
21. As a measure of various commodities (the single articles or parts being sometimes compared to fingers).
a. A bundle of tobacco-leaves tied together.
b. A certain quantity of water-cress.
c. Five oranges or herrings.
d. A palmate root of ginger.
e. One of the clusters, each containing from 8 to 20 fruits, into which a bunch of bananas or plantains naturally divides.
1726G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 102 In another Locker, I found four or five Hands of Tobacco. 1756P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 119, I have sometimes seen a hand of ginger weigh near half a pound... The larger spreading roots are called Hands in Jamaica. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 92 (Hoppe) A single hand being 5 oranges. Ibid. 150 We buy the water-cresses by the ‘hand’. One hand will make about five halfpenny bundles. 1861Ibid. III. 163 Five herrings make a hand. 1879J. R. Jackson in Encycl. Brit. X. 603/2 Uncoated ginger..the ‘races’ or ‘hands’ [are] from 3 to 4 inches long. 1886U.S. Consular Rep. No. 65. 216 (Cent). The fruit [banana]..consists of a stock on which are from four to twelve clusters called hands. 1888Paton & Dittmar in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 425/1 The leaves..[of tobacco] are made up into ‘hands’, or small bundles of from six to twelve leaves. 1894in Pop. Sci. Monthly XLIV. 497 A hand [banana] may contain from a dozen to twenty fruits or ‘fingers’.
22. Cookery. A shoulder of pork. (Formerly applied to part of a shoulder of mutton.)
1673S. C. Rules of Civility x. 102 A Shoulder of Mutton is to be cut like a semicircle betwixt the flap and the hand. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Hand (of Pork), the shoulder joint of a hog, cut without the blade-bone. 1863Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. I. 62 Flitches of bacon and ‘hands’ (i.e. shoulders of cured pork..) abounded.
***** That which is held in the hand.
23. In games of cards: The cards dealt to each player; the handful of cards held by each at the beginning of the game. Also, the cards held at any stage of such a game as Poker.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 41 He that winnes the game, gets not only the maine Stake, but all the Bets by follow the fortune of his hand. 1694Congreve Double Dealer ii. i. Plays (1887) 122 Then I find it's like cards: if either of us have a good hand, it is an accident of fortune. 1726Swift Th. Various Subj. Wks. 1778 XI. 358, I must complain the cards are ill shuffled, till I have a good hand. 1881Knowledge No. 4. 83/2 In whist each player is to consider his partner's hand as well as his own. 1889R. Guerndale Poker Bk. 25 To fill your hand, to improve it by the draw. 1913‘A. B. Lougher’ Poker 13 The next process is that of drawing to fill the hands.
b. The person holding the cards. elder hand or eldest hand, the person who plays first; so younger hand, second hand, third hand, etc.
1589, etc. [see elder a. 4, eldest 5]. 1663Dryden Wild Gallant iv. i, Zounds, the rogue has a quint-major, and three aces younger hand. 1746Hoyle Whist (ed. 6) 22 You are an elder Hand. 1828T. Aird in Blackw. Mag. Dec. 713/1 A fag partner at whist when a better fourth hand is wanting.
c. A single round in a game, in which all the cards dealt at one time are played.
1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. II. 123 When I had wonne two or three hands, I tooke pleasure now and then to lose a little. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 66 They take a hand at whist, or descant upon the General Advertiser. 1837Dickens Pickw. vi, The odd trick at the conclusion of a hand. 1876World V. No. 113. 17 We have a room where we can take a hand at whist.
d. fig.
In many phrases, as to play into the hands of another, to force the hand of, to show one's hand, etc., for which see the verbs. to declare one's hand (fig.): to reveal one's circumstances or aims. (Cf. declare v. 11.)
1600Holland Livy xxv. xxxiv. 575 They..expected certainely to haue another hand as good as this. a1626Bacon (J.), There was never a hand drawn, that did double the rest of the habitable world, before this. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. iv. iii, I have a difficult hand to play in this affair. 1882B. Harte Flip ii, Until you saw my hand. 1887Rider Haggard Jess xiii, You don't show me your hand like this for nothing. 1922D. H. Lawrence England, my England 271 Upstairs Fanny evaded all the thrusts made by his mother, and did not declare her hand.
†24. A handle. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §23 Holde downe the hynder hand of his sith, that he do not endent the grasse. 1549Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 40 For makynge a hand to our lady belrope. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 142 The little Hand to turn the Cylinder or Shutter. 1764V. Green Surv. Worcester 232 The business called handling..i.e. putting the hand to cups.
b. The part of a gun grasped by the hand.
1881Greener Gun 433 The circumference of the hand may be obtained by passing a string round it immediately behind the trigger-guard... The usual hand is about 5-in. in circumference for 12-bores.
II. Phrases.
* With governing preposition.
(See also aforehand, afterhand, asidehand (s.v. aside IV), beforehand, behindhand, between- (Sc. atween-) hands (between prep. 3 b); nearhand, nigh-hand, off-hand, under-hand.)
25. at hand.
a. Within easy reach; near; close by. (Sometimes preceded by close, hard, near, nigh, ready.)
a1300Cursor M. 15710 He es cummand negh at hand þe tresun has puruaid. Ibid. 17922 (Gött.) He cums at hand to slak ȝur site. a1400–50Alexander 81 Artaxenses is at hand, & has ane ost reryd. 1535Coverdale Ps. cxviii[i]. 151 Be thou nye at honde also (o Lorde). 1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 46 b, Their enemies wer ever at hande. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 674 Satan was now at hand. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 19 ⁋15 Forced to produce not what was best but what happened to be at hand. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge x, Have you a messenger at hand?
b. Near in time closely approaching. (Sometimes qualified as prec.) Also † at hands.
c1200Ormin 16147 Himm þinnkeþþ þatt hiss herrte shall Tobresstenn neh att hanndess. a1300Cursor M. 14206 If he mai slepe, hele es at hand. c1400Destr. Troy 396 And she at hond for to haue husband for age. 1526–34Tindale 2 Thess. ii. 2 As though the daye of Christ were at honde. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 34 The end of both his Voyage and life were neer at hand. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 39 The diet at Frankfort is at hand. 1820Keats St. Agnes viii. The hallowed hour was near at hand. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 433 Further great changes were at hand.
†c. At the immediate moment; at the start. Obs.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. ii. 23 Hollow men, like Horses hot at hand, Make gallant shew..But when they should endure the bloody Spurre..Sinke in the Triall. 1640Fuller Joseph's Coat iii. (1867) 133 Some men's affection spends itself with its violence, hot at hand, cold at length. 1650― Pisgah ii. xiv. 297 Rebellion, though running so at hand, is quickly tyred..Loyalty is best at a long course. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. II. 223 Many..though hot at hand, yet quickly abate of their Speed.
†d. = By hand: see 26 a. Obs.
1595Shakes. John v. ii. 75 A Lion fostered vp at hand.
†e. At the wrist. Obs.
[c1386Chaucer Prol. 193 (Harl. 7334), I saugh his sleues purfiled atte hond [Six texts at the hond] Wiþ grys. ]1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3256/4 The Coat buttoned close at Hand.
† f. At close quarters in conflict; fighting hand to hand (with). Also at hands. Obs. (Cf. to come to hands, 37 b.)
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Cominus, Pugnare cominus cum hoste, to fight at hand, or hand to hand with hys enimy. a1608Sir F. Vere Comm. 97 When they were come up and at hands with the enemy.
†g. at (on, upon) any hand: on any account, in any case. So at no hand: on no account, by no means. Obs.
c1430Syr Tryam. 995 He never sir James slowe at none honde. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 200 The feined Fables..would not bee forgotten at any hande. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 27 The Welshmen would at no hand geve him any oportunitie to fight with them. 1620Venner Via Recta Introd. 11 It is at no hand to be allowed. 1646Buck Rich. III, i. 35 His secret drift was, to apt and prepare the Duke to a Rebellion at any hand. 1690Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 128 This the Gravity of Zeno's School will, at no hand, permit.
†h. at every hand: on all hands. Obs.
1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 48 It is believed at every hand.
†i. at (a person's) hand: near him, close by him, in attendance upon him, at his disposal, subject to him, (also at the hand, at hand unto). at one's own hand: at one's own disposal, one's own master. Obs. or dial.
1382Wyclif 1 Chron. xviii. 17 Forsothe the sonys of Dauid [were] first at the kyngis hond. c1430Syr Gener. 2066 Al the gretest of that lond Because of mede were at his hond. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit Wemen 12, I hard..Ane hie speiche, at my hand. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 136 The Gibeonites..were at hand unto the Levites in the meanest offices about the..Temple. 1619Canterbury Marriage Licences (MS.), Lidia Webb..nowe at her owne hand, her parents being all dead. 1700Pennsylv. Archives I. 130 The proprietors did not set up a government at their own hands but were authorized.
j. at the hand(s of: from the hands of; from. (Expressing the immediate source, after such verbs as receive, take, find, seek, require, etc. See at prep. 11.)
a1035Laws of Cnut i. c. 22 To onfonne..æt bisceopes handa. c1200Ormin 9261 To wurrþenn fullhtnedd att hiss hannd. 1535Coverdale Job ii. 10 Seing we haue receaued prosperite at the honde of God. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Visitation of Sick, You may fynde mercy at our heauenly fathers hande. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 288 The King would take it very ill at their hands. 1749Fielding Tom Jones v. iii, The many little favours, received..at his hands. 1768–1884 [see at prep. 11 b]. 1893F. W. Maitland in Traill Social Eng. ii. 165 He had just received the Christian faith at the hands of Roman missionaries.
26. by hand.
a. With the hand or hands; by manual action or labour, as opposed to machinery, or to natural processes.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Tim. 21 The ghospell, whiche I delyuered vnto thee..delyuer likewise by handes vnto others. 1562T. Timme Ten Eng. Lepers G ij, They bring up by hand crammed and franked foules and beastes. 1653Walton Angler xi. 204 Many will fish for the Gudgion by hand. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 163 A very great bank, so even, that it seems to have been done by hand. 1709Steele Tatler No. 89 ⁋6, I was bred by Hand. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 278 Implements employed in the preparation of flax by hand. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. ii, She had brought me up ‘by hand’. 1881Truth 19 May 686/2 Embroidery done by hand.
b. By, past, aside (as in to put by hand); usually pred. or adj. laid aside, done with, disposed of; past, finished, over. Sc.
1637Rutherford Lett. (1830) 199 Many ells and inches of the short thread of your life are by-hand since I saw you. Ibid. i. xi. (1664) 32 The greatest part but play with Christianity, they put it by hand easily. 1782Sir J. Sinclair Observ. Scot. Dial. 53 (Jam.) A good thing by-hand: a good thing over.
c. by the hand: expeditiously, readily, straightway. (Cf. from hand 28 a.)
1658W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 14. ix. §i. (1669) 38/2 That they should grow rich by the hand.
27. for one's own hand. For one's own interest or benefit, on one's own account.
1828Scott F.M. Perth xxxiv, ‘I fought for my own hand’, said the Smith. 1869Tennyson Coming of Arthur 218 Each But sought to rule for his own self and hand. 1879Froude Cæsar ix. 92 Lesbos was occupied by adventurers, who were fighting for their own hand.
28. from hand.
†a. ‘Out of hand’, at once, immediately. [Cf. Ger. von der hand.] Sc. Obs.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 607 The Danis..Wand saill to top, and saillit syne fra hand. 1535Lyndesay Satyre 440 Gude sirs, I sall be reddie, evin fra hand. a1550Freiris of Berwik 378 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 297 The caponis als ȝe sall ws bring fra hand. 1558in Miscell. of Wodr. Soc. (1844) 265 Fra hand, eftir that the mater wes schawin to me, I persauit.
†b. Out of reach, away, off. Obs.
1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 15 b, And the reason heereof is not farre from hand.
29. in hand.
a. lit. (Held or carried.)
1390Gower Conf. II. 338 With a bow in honde. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 110 Cupide the king, wyth bow in hand. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 61 With sword in hand. 1784Cowper Task iv. 239 With brush in hand and pallet spread. 1887Pall Mall G. 23 Feb. 3 Suppose that it went cap in hand to every Government in Europe. Mod. There sat a reporter pencil in hand to take down his words.
†b. in hand, in one's hand: (led) by the hand, or by a string, or the like. Obs.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 213 And from a fer com..The god of love and in his hande a quene. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. 79 Ech in his stage, and his make in his hand. 1513Douglas æneis ii. vii. [vi.] 47 Panthus..in his hand also Harling him eftir his litle nevo, Cummis. 1641Termes de la Ley 126 s.v. Dogge-draw, A Hound that hee leadeth in his hand. 1684R. H. School Recreat. 21 Trot him about in your Hand a good while: Then offer to Mount. 1782C. A. Burney in Mad. D'Arblay's Early Diary (1889) II. 305, I charged him to bring his sister in his hand. 1796E. Parsons Myster. Warn. II. 237 Bringing your friend in your hand.
†c. in hand: in the company or presence of a person, or in attendance on him. to come in hand: to present oneself, appear. to hold in hand: to attend on. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 22239 (Edinb.) Firste sale be descenciune, are antecriste sal cum in hande. Ibid. 2432 (Cott.) Þe king..commaunded..Men suld him mensk and hald in hand. Ibid. 3916 Ilkan wit oþer went in hand.
d. In actual or personal possession, at one's disposal; † in early use, Under one's authority, subject to one; in one's charge; in custody. (Also in hands.)
c1200Ormin 17990 Þe Faderr..hafeþþ ȝifenn himm inn hannd To weldenn alle þingess. a1300Cursor M. 15813 Petre was in hand nummen for forfait he had don. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iv. 12 Cristen men ware wont for to hafe þat citee in hand. c1530A bird in hand [see bird n. 6]. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 86 Promised to give hym a greate somme of money..and gave hym..halfe in hande. 1623Bingham Xenophon 22 The Milesian..being in hand to the Kings people, escaped away naked to the Grecians. 1627J. Carter Exp. Serm. Mount 38 It lyeth us in hand, seriously to consider what our practice is. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. vii. (1810) 98 Then Desmond O Conner layed hold upon James Fits Thomas, and said, My Lord you are in hand. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. (1695) 146 Apt to judge a little in Hand better than a great deal to come. 1751Affect. Narr. Wager 43 With a little yet in Hand, we were almost starving. 1844M. Hennell Soc. Syst. 50 To make..purchases..according to convenience and cash in hand. 1884Curtis Price in Law Times Rep. LI. 157/2 His scrupulous desire to keep the mansion-house in hand. Mod. You may keep the offer in hand till the 20th.
†e. In expectation or suspense (with hold, keep). Obs.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1019 Hyr lust to holde no wyght in honde. c1374― Troylus ii. 426 (477) But that I nyl not holden hym yn honde. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxviii. 152 Not to hold him longer in hand. 1824Scott St. Ronan's xviii, The rogue-lawyers, after taking fees, and keeping me in hand for years.
f. In process; being carried on or actually dealt with in any way. (See also take in hand 42.)
c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 115 It shal be doon, quod Symkyn..What wol ye doon whil that it is in hande? c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 147 Som what is in hand, what ever it meyn. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 757 No warre in hande, nor none towarde. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 22 The matters or newes in hand amongst us. 1692Ld. Molesworth Acc. Sweden 109 Though it be something forreign to the Matter in hand. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. vii, Having much business in hand. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xi. 332 He..gave his whole attention to whatever he had in hand. 1895Manch. Guard. 19 Oct. 4/8 The work..is now well in hand.
g. in hand with: occupied or engaged with, dealing with; in conference with, endeavouring to persuade (also in hands with). Obs. or dial. † in hand to do something: occupied in doing it. Obs. (See also to go in hand with, 39.)
1470–85Malory Arthur x. lxii, I shal neuer be at ease in my herte tyl I be in handes with them. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 25 Another with Grece and Cesyll is in honde. 1515Suffolk in State Papers Hen. VIII (For. & Dom.) II. i. 26 The Queen was in hand with me the first day I [came], and said she must be short with me. 1539Bible (Great) Ps. lvi. 2 Myne enemyes are daylye in hande to swalow me vp. 1604Jas. I Counterbl. (Arb.) 111 Is it not a great vanitie, that a man cannot heartily welcome his friend now, but straight they must bee in hand with Tobacco? 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 598 Zerubbabel, who is now in hand to build the Temple. 1635Laud Wks. (1860) VII. 116 For the statutes, I am in hand with them. [1825–80Jamieson s.v., He's in hands wi' Jean.]
h. in hand: under control, subject to discipline. (Originally a term of horsemanship, cf. b.)
1832Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 64 They will have their horses in hand..with their heads well up. 1856Athenæum 6 Dec. 1491 An Irishman..who has been kept well in hand at a tight University in his calf-days. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. iv. 151 If he had strong passions..he kept them well in hand.
i. Preceded by a numeral denoting a number of draught horses, etc. driven by one person. See four-in-hand.
1890Pall Mall G. 20 June 2/1 An eight-in-hand team.
†j. in any hand: in any case, at any rate: = 25 g. Obs.
1601Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 45 Let him fetch off his drumme in any hand. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. II. 150, I would not in any hand..he should slip his necke out of the collar.
k. Billiards. Of the cue-ball: having been retrieved by hand, after being pocketed, and having been placed on any selected spot within the D preliminary to the next stroke.
1860‘R. Crawley’ Handy Bk. Games xiii. 106 Your ball being in hand, you must play for the hazard that shall bring the object-ball back to the opposite cushion. 1904S. A. Mussabini Mannock's Billiards v. 228 The cue-ball is ‘in hand’ with the red ball, presenting a straightaway winning hazard into the right middle pocket.
l. N.Z. (See quots.)
1930L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs i. 5 Until wire fences were introduced about 1862, all sheep on the plains were kept more or less in hand. The practice was for a shepherd to go round the boundary once or twice a day. 1933― in Press (Christchurch) 28 Oct. 15/7 Sheep are in hand when you have them in a mob near you.
30. of..hands.
a. of one's hands (rarely hand): in respect of one's actions, of action, of valour in fight: usually with valiant, proper, etc. a man of his hands: a man of valour, skill, or practical ability. arch.
a1300Cursor M. 7 O brut þat bern bald of hand. 13..Coer de L. 2092 Three gentil barouns of England, Wise of speech, doughty of hand. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 481 This Schir Eduard..Wes of his handis a nobill knycht. 1470–85Malory Arthur ii. xvii, Ye are..the man of moost prowesse of your handes lyuyng. 1513Douglas æneis ix. iii. 130 Mony thousand douchty men of handis. c1530H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture 73 in Babees Bk. 84 A man of his handes with hastynesse Should at no tyme be fylde. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 27 He is as tall a man of his hands, as any is between this and his head. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 47 He loved sword and buckler men, and such as our Fathers were wont to call men of their hands. 1886Sir F. Pollock Oxford Lect. iv. 108 Learning to be a man of your hands with another weapon or two besides.
†b. of all hands: on all hands (see 32 h), on all sides, on the part of every one; also (quot. 1588) in any case. Obs.
1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 6 b, Callyng him of al handes kynge. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 219 Of all hands must we be forsworne. 1621–31Laud Serm. (1847) 45 Then there is ‘joy’, ‘great joy’, of all hands. 1715M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 260 Both are own'd of all hands to be spurious.
31. off hand.
a. See off-hand.
b. off one's hand(s): out of one's charge or control. to take off one's hands: to relieve one of the charge or responsibility of.
1636Rutherford Lett. i. ccx. (1675) 394 The scattered Flock once committed to me, and now taken off my Hand by himself. 1676Wycherley Pl. Dealer v. ii, He has seemed to make his wench rich, only that I might take her off his hands. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 81 Good Masters, who had taken off of his hands more Flesh in that time..than he had sold in some Years before. 1765Foote Commissary i. Wks. 1799 II. 9 A friend of the lady's will take the child off her hands. 1889The County xxii, I have taken him off your hands.
32. on hand, upon hand.
a. In one's possession; in one's charge or keeping: said of things, or of work or business which one has to do. to have on hand: to have with one; to be charged with, have the care or responsibility of; to have in order to deal with or dispose of; to be about or engaged on.
c1025Interl. v. Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 75 Swa hwylce þinc on handum mid hælicum ofoste si becumen. c1205Lay. 248 Al þat lond þat Eneas heore fader hefde on hond. 1390Gower Conf. I. 94 Thou hast on honde such a game. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xvii, These xj kynges haue more on hand than they are ware of. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John 91 b, It onely lyeth you vpon hande to fyght manfully. 1815E. S. Barrett Heroine I. 59 We have other matters on hands. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 470 If he possessed in India any money on loan or merchandize on hand. 1853Lytton My Novel i. ix, The abode..which had so evidently hung long on hand. Mod. We have at present a large stock of tweeds on hand.
†b. Said of evil, harm, etc. affecting a person. to have on hand: to have to bear or suffer. Obs.
c1200Moral Ode 192 Þet ure eldre misduden, we habbeþ uuele on honde. c1350Leg. Rood (1871) 62 Fader, what harm es þe on hand. 1390Gower Conf. II. 12 For ever he hath drede upon honde.
†c. In or into one's presence; present; at hand. to bring on hand: to bring in, introduce. to nigh on hand: to draw nigh, approach. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 4937 Sargantz send i son on hand Þat in þair gare mi god þai fand. Ibid. 10680 To bring a custom neu on hand. c1400Destr. Troy 11362 Noy..neghis on hond. Ibid. 12265 Onone come the night & neghit vppon hond. a1400–50Alexander 4791 A new note neghis on hand.
†d. on (an) hand: favourably, prosperously.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Here tuder swiðe wexeð and wel þieð and goð wel on hond. c1205Lay. 22313 Wind heom stod an honde. a1250Owl & Night. 1649 Me þuncþ þat þu me gest an honde.
e. At hand; in attendance (U.S.).
1856Olmsted Slave States 372 The slaves they had employed never would be on hand, when the hour for relieving came. 1887J. Hawthorne Trag. Myst. x, Jonson proposed to be on hand again before breakfast. 1891Chicago Inter Ocean 16 Feb., I heard that he was about to make a sale, and I was on hand.
† f. On in time, as time goes on. Obs.
c1205Lay. 7165 Þeos children weoxen an hond þat heo mihten halden lond. Ibid. 12711 Ah þene nome hit losede an hond. a1225Ancr. R. 326 Þe wunde þet euer wurseð an hond. c1320Sir Tristr. 933 On hand Mani man wepen sare For ransoun to yrland.
g. on, upon, one's hands (rarely hand): resting upon one as a charge, burden, or responsibility, or as a thing to be dealt with or attended to; opp. to off one's hands.
1528Roy Rede me (Arb.) 134, I haue wife and children vpon my hande. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 1167 Kerseis, and Collons, lay on their handes. 1639T. Brugis tr. Camus' Mor. Relat. 214 Seeing three men upon his hands, what could he doe? 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 48 Persons..that have a great deal of Idle Time lying upon their Hands. 1790Burns Tam O'Shanter 78 That night, a child might understand, The Deil had business on his hand. 1799H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 110 Were we thrown a little more on our own hands. 1889J. S. Winter Mrs. Bob (1891) 158, I have this house on my hands till next October.
h. on all hands, on every hand: on all sides, in all directions, to or from all quarters.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 105 They are oppressed on all hands. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 86 The grace of Heauen, Before, behinde thee, and on euery hand Enwheele thee round. 1700Dryden Pref. Fables (Globe) 506 It is agreed on all hands that he writes even below Ogilby. 1775Sheridan Duenna i. iv, I have heard it on all hands. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) II. viii. vii. 66 The shameful servility of some, the immoral life of others, the bigotry of almost all, repelled him on every hand. 1893Law Times XCV. 227/2 It is admitted on all hands.
i. on (the) one hand, on the other hand, are used (besides the physical sense 4) to indicate two contrasted sides of a subject, circumstances, considerations, points of view, etc.
1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 55 My mother..being sicke on one hand, and my selfe on the other. 1705W. Bosman Guinea 434 We are obliged to depart without our Money: But on the other hand, the next time we come hither, we are sure to be honestly paid. 1711Addison Spect. No. 101 ⁋2 If men of eminence are exposed to censure on the one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. 1741Watts Improv. Mind i. v. §5 But there is a danger of mistake in our judgment of books, on the other hand also. 1871Smiles Charact. i. (1876) 10 Either being elevated on the one hand, or degraded on the other. Mod. This is the larger; on the other hand, its flavour is not quite so fine.
†j. So formerly on either hand, on some hands, on this hand. Obs.
1655Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 205 Here we live with men, yea beasts, yea, if (on some hands) I should say with incarnate Devils, I should not [etc.]. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §2 It is no question on either hand whether God may require these things or no. 1769Burke Corr. (1844) I. 188 On this hand I would not choose a very shy and cold behaviour.
k. on any hand: see 25 g.
33. out of hand.
a. At once, immediately, straight off; without premeditation, suddenly; extempore.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2285 Dele to me my destine, and do hit out of honde. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) i. 214 Redde him of his lyff out of hand a-non. 1578Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxxviii. 427 Aconit is..very hurtful to mans nature, and killeth out of hande. 1692R. L'Estrange Josephus, Antiq. xv. xi. (1733) 413 Salome and her Faction were Tooth and Nail for dispatching her out of Hand. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 82 Bid him finish the business out of hand. 1883F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius vii. 114 She will marry you out of hand after a three months' engagement.
b. The opposite of in hand (in various senses: see 29): No longer in process; done with; not led by the hand; from or as a result of some treatment (quot. 1823); out of or beyond control.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 107 Were these inward Warres once out of hand, Wee would (deare Lords) vnto the Holy-Land. 1807Coleridge Lett. (1895) 513 Do what you have to do at once, and put it out of hand. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 153 Though repeated with muriatic acid also, it comes out of hand in a most enviable state of whiteness. 1883W. E. Norris No New Thing III. xxxv. 223 Your temper seems to have got rather out of hand.
c. to eat (or feed) out of one's hand (see eat v. 3 d).
1958Hayward & Harari tr. Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago i. vii. 212 ‘Well, have they had their tails twisted yet? Are they keeping quiet now?’ ‘The shopkeepers, you mean?.. Feed out of your hand!’
34. to hand.
a. Within reach, accessible, at hand; † near, close by, close up, to close combat (obs.); into one's possession or presence. (See also to come to hand, 37 a.)
a1300Cursor M. 11235 Sli[k] clathes als sco had to hand. Ibid. 14142 His sisters serued him to hand. c1400Rom. Rose 4198 It were foly to prece to honde. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 992 Ffor be his massageris sente he me to hande Al my sustenauns. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 8 By this, the dreadful Beast drew nigh to hand. Ibid. ii. vi. 19 Him needed not long call; shee soone to hond Her ferry brought. 1750Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 II. 166, I sent this essay..and have since heard nothing of it, which makes me doubt of its getting to hand. 1845–6Trench Huls. Lect. Ser. i. iv. 69 Evidences ready to hand.
b. to hand, to one's hand: into subjection, under control.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 241 Alexander..at last wan the horse to hand. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §266 (1810) 275 He..brought the hawk to hand. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton iv. (1840) 63 Some of these they had brought so to their hand, that they taught them to go and come.
c. to (unto) one's hand(s: ready for one, without exertion on one's own part.
1581W. Charke in Confer. iv. (1584) Ff ij b, I English it to your hande, because you deale not with the Greeke. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 29 What thou would'st do Is done vnto thy hand. 1661Bramhall Just Vind. iii. 53 The Court of Rome had done that to their hands. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Commodus i. 188 The Work is done to your Hands already by your Father. 1855Browning A Light Woman xiv, Robert Browning, you writer of plays, Here's a subject made to your hand!
35. under hand.
†a. In subjection, under control or rule; under one's charge or care. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 6442 (Cott.) Þis ilk folk..Þat moyses had vnder hand. c1340Ibid. 4261 (Trin.) Ioseph..haþ his godes vndir honde.
b. Secretly, stealthily: see underhand.
1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. iii. iii. Wks. 1878 I. 92 He does it under hand. 1705W. Bosman Guinea (1707) 49 Selling this Liquor by their Emissaries under-hand.
c. under one's hand(s: under one's action, charge, care, or treatment.
1535Coverdale Exod. xxi. 20 He that smyteth his seruaunt..that he dye vnder his handes. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 72 As a Physician doth to see many patients dying under his hands. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 16 We had a Man, who had lost a Limb..under our Hands to cure.
d. under the hand of: with the signature of. (Cf. 17.)
1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. vii. (1810) 98 Letters which were intercepted and brought to mee (under the Presidents hand). 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 70 An especial Order under my hand. 1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 309 The Lady.. gave it my Wife, without any thing under my Hand. 1891Law Times XCII. 125/1 The rule which makes it necessary to stamp with a sixpenny stamp an agreement under hand only.
unto one's hand: see 34 c. upon hand: see 25 g, 32 g.
36. with..hands.
†a. with one's hands, with (seventh, twelfth, etc.) hand: by oath, by the testimony of (seven, twelve, etc.) witnesses. (See Du Cange s.v. Juramentum.) Obs.
1484Surtees Misc. (1888) 43 He welbe at all tymes redy to prove and make good eythre upon a book or els with his handes. 1609Leges Marchiarum in Stat. Scotl. I. 84*/2 He sall purge him þerof at þe merchis..with þe sevynt hand. 1658Cleveland Rustic Rampant Wks. (1687) 472 The Abbot with his twelfth Hand..should swear.
b. with both hands (fig.): with all one's might; † fully, freely (quot. 1624). (See also to play with both hands, 40.)
[1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1258 Þe world..Agayn us fightes with twa handes.] 1611Bible Micah vii. 3 That they may doe euill with both hands earnestly. 1624Bedell Lett. viii. 118 All this is yeelded with both hands. 1871L. Carroll Through the Looking-Glass ix. 188 You couldn't deny that, if you tried with both hands.
** With verb and preposition. (See also bear in hand (bear v. 3 e), bring on h. (32 c above), come in h. (29 c), have in h., on h. (29 f. 32 a, b), hold in h. (29 c, e), take off one's hands (31 b).)
37. come to hand.
a. To come to one, or within one's reach, to arrive, to turn up: to be received or obtained.
a1300Cursor M. 19893 Þan com þaa thre men him to hand. c1400Sowdone Bab. 2401 Thai slowen down þat came to honde. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 782 To put on such harnesse as came next to their handes. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1658) 72 The common people..eat whatsoever comes to hand. 1807T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 101 The enclosed letter..came to hand yesterday. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 358 Seizing any weapon that comes to hand.
b. come to (one's) hands: to come to close quarters, engage hand to hand. (Cf. 25 f.)
1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 257 The battell come to their handes. 1623Bingham Xenophon 74 Who came to hands, before the whole Armie ioyned. 1882Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 237, I want to come to my hands with them, and be done.
†38. fall in hand(s. Obs. (Cf. 29 f, g.)
†a. To fall to blows; to come to words with. (Also fall on hand.) Obs.
1448Paston Lett. No. 60 I. 74 When they met to gyder, they fell in handes togyder, and [Sir Robert] smot hym..with hys sord. Ibid. No. 711 III. 72, I felle on hande with hym for Matelaske Kerre. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1224/1 She fel in hand with hym and all to rated him. 1605Camden Rem. (1637) 275 His wife fell in hand with him, and asked him; What will you do, list you not to put forth your selfe as others doe?
†b. fall in hands with, or to do something: to set about, take in hand. Obs.
1529More Dyaloge 30 b/1 Or he fall in hand wyth the tone or the tother. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) II. 83 King Stephan..fell in hand to besiege the residue of those places which the rebels kept. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 10 Neither..were we the first that fell in hand with translating the Scripture into English. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 141 Neaver to fall in hands with mole catchinge till St. Marke day bee past.
†39. go in hand, on hand. Obs. (Cf. 29 f, g.)
†a. go in hand with, or to do something: to engage or deal with, be about; to proceed with.
1534More On the Passion Wks. 1323/2 Our Sauiour foorthwyth went in hande wyth the instytutynge of..the blessed Sacramente. 1587Harrison England ii. i. (1877) i. 38, I will..go in hand with the limits..of our seuerall sees. 1639Sanderson Serm. II. 124 [That] he should..go in hand with it himself, with all convenient care and speed.
†b. To come to be dealt with or treated. Obs.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (c 1600) 159 b, When Atreus part should goe in hand [cum tractaretur Atreus].
†40. play on (or with) both hands. To practise double dealing, act with duplicity. Obs.
1549Compl. Scot. xi. 89 The kyng of ingland playit vitht baytht the handis. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 358 He slew..King of the Hunnes, for playing on both hands.
†41. stand (one) in (or on) hand. To concern; to be incumbent on; to be the duty or business of. (Cf. 32 g.)
c1555Fisher's Life lf. 118 It standeth vs in hand..to prostrate ourselves before him. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. Pref. Ep. 3 It standeth us on hand to strengthen ourselves in the infallible certaintie of the holy Christian Religion. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 89 It stood him in hand to stand upon his guard. 1786I. Perkins Poem in H.R. Stiles Bundling (1869) 99 Sence it doth stand each one in hand To happyfy his life.
42. take in hand, † on hand. To take the charge or responsibility of; to set oneself to carry out or deal with; to undertake; sometimes spec. to undertake the discipline, care, or cure (of a person).
a. with simple obj.
a1300Cursor M. 25928 Þis hali wark j tak on hand. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 268 Wedding is the hardest band That ony man may tak on hand. 1390Gower Conf. I. 34 Where dedly werre is taken on honde. 1535Coverdale Ps. c[i]. 4, I wil take no wicked thinge in honde. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 22 To morrow..we wil take againe our matter in hand. 1608–11Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows ii. §12 Before I take any man in hand, I will knowe whether hee be a thorne or a nettle. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vii. iii, Very obedient to me she was when a little child, before you took her in hand. 1885G. Allen Babylon xi, I've taken you in hand. Mod. It is a difficult task that you have taken in hand.
b. with inf. (arch. or dial.)
1307Elegy Edw. I, v, That oure kynge hede take on honde, Al Engelond to ȝeme ant wysse. c1380Sir Ferumb. 143 To take an hond aȝen hym to take þe fyȝte. 1526Tindale Luke i. 1 For as moche as many have taken in hond to compyle a treates off thoo thynges. 1676Hobbes Iliad i. 268 T'appease Achilles I will take in hand. Mod. (north. dial.) He took in hand to inform the others.
*** With verb governing hand. (For other phrases, as bear a hand , force (a person's) hand, hold (one's) hand, join hands, kiss the hand, lay hands on, lend a hand, set hand (to, on), shake hands, strike hands, try one's hand, wash one's hands of, etc., see the verbs. to have a hand in: see 3 b above. to show one's hand: see 23 d.)
43. change hands. To substitute the left hand for the right and the converse; to pass from one hand to another, from one person's hand or possession to another's (cf. 2).
1670,1732[see change v. 2]. 1826H. N. Coleridge West Indies 100 The property in the soil must change hands. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 160 The whole soil would soon change hands.
44. give (one's) hand.
a. To present or hold out the hand to be grasped, in token of salutation, bargaining, etc.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 320 Giue me your hands, God send you ioy, Petruchio, 'tis a match. 1601― Jul. C. v. v. 49 Giue me your hand first. Fare you wel my Lord. 1876T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 114 She gave him a hand so cool and still that Christopher..was literally ashamed to let her see and feel his own.
†b. fig. to give hands: to consent, agree (to); to pledge oneself. Obs.
1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 24 So they all gaue hands to this opinion, saue onely Aristotle. 1708Ockley Saracens (1848) 432 So they gave him their hands to be subject to him.
c. to give a hand: to help a person. Also, to lend a hand (see lend v.2 2 e).
1860in A. F. Ridgway Voices from Auckland 71 His young wife..will readily give him a hand at the crosscut for a few hours. 1880Daily Tel. 26 Nov., A policeman gave him a hand up. 1949J. Routh in Granta Christmas ed., ‘Here, let me give you fellows a hand,’ I suggested.
45. make a hand.
a. To make one's profit; to make a success of, to succeed or speed with. Freq. with qualifying adj., as fair, fine (often ironical), good, etc.
1538London in Lett. Suppress. Monast. (Camden) 234 They mak ther handes by leesys, salys of wodde, and of ther plate. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. iii. 15/1 All is one with them, so as they may make their hand. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iv. 74 Y' haue made a fine hand fellowes? 1669W. Hacke Collect. Orig. Voy. iii. (1699) 69 We should have made a better hand of them. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. vii. App. (1852) 596 Through the disadvantages of their feet by the snow they could make no hand on it. 1727Swift Gulliver ii. iii, The farmer..concluding I must soon die, resolved to make as good a hand of me as he could. 1808Windham Let. 21 Oct. in Sp. Parl. (1812) I. 98, I do not find that I make much hand (I should rather perhaps say much foot) in walking. 1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 90, I don't suppose you'd have made much hand of them by yourself.
b. to make a hand of (with): to make away with, make an end of, ‘do for’. Obs. or dial.
1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) III. 142 They falling to the spoile made a hand, and therewith departed. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 55 To giue them such medicines..as will soone make a hand of them. 1601Holland Pliny ix. lx, It makes a hand with it, and digesteth it presently. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. Progr. 93 He [Moses] had doubtless made a hand of me, but that one came by, and bid him forbear. 1864Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. v. (1871) VI. 8 Hungarian Majesty..attacks Seckondorf furiously..in mid⁓winter; and makes a terrible hand of him. 1887Chesh. Gloss. s.v., I mun know about th' markets afore I sell: I dunna want to be made a hand on.
46. put (one's) hand.
a. to put one's hand: to exert oneself, use one's energies; now always with to: to set about, undertake (a piece of work).
1388Wyclif Luke ix. 62 No man that puttith his hoond to the plouȝ, and biholdynge bacward, is able to the rewme of God. 1439in Fenland N. & Q. (1905) July 222 And yat..ye wole at yis tyme..putte youre handes and ese us by wey of lone of ye somme of C marc. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6056 Þat to þi seruyce puttys þair hands. 1535Coverdale Deut. xii. 18 All yt thou puttest thine hande vnto. 1631J. Preston Treat. Effect. Faith 45 If God himselfe put not his hand to the worke no man is able to believe. 1633J. Hall Hard Texts Zech. xi. 9, I will not put my hand to redresse it. 1879M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. ix. 80 Whatever he put his hand to, he did it ‘with all his might’.
b. to put (one's) hand(s) on, († in, † unto): to lay hands on (see lay v.1 21 c); † to do violence to (Sc. Obs.); to get hold of, seize (also fig.).
1535Coverdale Exod. xxii. 8 ([He] shal sweare) that he hath not put his hande vnto his neghbours good. 1837C. M. Goodridge Voy. S. Seas (1843) 44 [We] got into her with such articles as we could immediately put our hands on. 1842J. H. Newman Par. Serm. VI. viii. 111 Perhaps..we can put our hand, as it were, on a time in our childhood [when, etc.]. 1972L. Henderson Cage until Tame vii. 57 Right now he couldn't put his hands on a hundred quid.
47. take the hand of. To take hold of the hand which is given or offered; to join hands.
1565Child Marriages (E.E.T.S.) 68 The said Roger and Ellin..toke handes together. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 376 Come vnto these yellow sands, And then take hands. 1771E. Griffith Lady Barton II. 274 A pair..as firmly united as any that ever took hands, from the first wedding in Eden, down to this present day. Mod. Take my hand; I will lead you safely.
**** With adjective qualifying hand.
(For other phrases, as bloody hand, even hand, free hand. helping hand, high hand, loose hand, old hand, red hand, single hand, strong hand, upper hand, etc., see the adjectives. See also left hand, overhand, right hand, second hand, etc.).
48. better hand.
†a. Superiority, the ‘upper hand’; precedence.
1523[see better a. 5]. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. xi. 243 The name of the Turkes hath gotten the bettre hande, and the other [Saracens] is out of remembraunce. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 341 If they might have the better hande of us. 1632Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry ii. i, To let strong nature have the better hand. 1641J. Trappe Theologia Theol. 2 That the Gospel should have the better hand of the Law.
b. See 10 b, 45 a.
49. clean hands. fig. Freedom from wrong-doing, innocence or uprightness of life: see clean a. 3 g.
1382Wyclif Job xvii. 9 The riȝtwis shal holden his weie, and with clene hondis adde strengthe. 1539Bible (Great) Ps. xxiv. 4 He that hath cleane handes and a pure hert. 1667Pepys Diary 19 May, My Lord Treasurer..is said to die with the cleanest hands that ever any Lord Treasurer did. 1896Morley in Liberal Mag. Dec. 495 You would go..into the councils of Europe with clean hands.
50. first hand.
a. at (the) first hand: see 10 c above, and first hand.
†b. at first hand: at first. Obs.
1600Holland Livy xxv. xxxvii. 577 At first hand they wist not what to doe.
†51. good hand. to get or have a good hand against: to get or have a decided advantage over. Obs. (See also make a good hand of, 45 a.)
1600Holland Livy vii. vii. 253 The other armie..got a good hand against their enemies. 1652–62Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 160/1 A prince who since he came to age, hath had a good hand against the Turks.
†52. higher hand. Superiority in contest, mastery. Obs.
a1225Leg. Kath. 758 Ȝef ha mahen on me þe herre hond habben. 13..Coer de L. 5239 And who that haves the heyer hand Have the cyte and al her land. c1386Chaucer Prol. 399 If þat he faughte and hadde the hyer honde. c1450Merlin 124 That he myghte haue the hier honde.
***** With an adverb.
53. hand in, out. to have one's hand in: to be actively engaged, to be in habitual practice, to be at it; to be in practice. his hand is out: he is out of practice, not in working order.
c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 220 Yit efte, whils thi hande is in, Pulle ther at with som kyn gyn. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 44 There was no rake-hell..but his hand was in with him, and that he was a copesmate for him. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 137 And if my hand be out, then belike your hand is in. 1667Barrow in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 54 Now my hand is in, I will add briefly these theorems. 1749Chesterfield Lett. (1792) II. cxcviii. 246 Write a line or two of it every day to keep your hand in. 1828Craven Dial. s.v., To have the hand in, to be accustomed to business. 1848Mem. Tod of Balerno 17 There are particular seasons when..his hand is out, when he is unable to wield the pen, when imagination flags. 1875M. Pattison Casaubon 354 Mere exercises to keep his hand in.
54. hands off! colloq. Keep off! let (the person or thing) alone! a peremptory order to cease or desist from touching or interference. Also attrib.
1563Becon Display. Pop. Masse Wks. iii. 42 Take thys bread, sayth..Christ..Hande of, saye ye papistes. Gape and we will put it in your mouthes. c1592Marlowe Massacre Paris ii. iv, Hands off, good fellow; I will be his bail. 1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. ii, Hand off, rude ranger!—Sirrah, get you in. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii. xiv, ‘Hands off!’ cried Silver leaping back a yard. 1902Daily Chron. 23 Jan. 7/1 A protest must be made against the hands-off policy. 1908Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Sept. 283/3 The hopelessly doctrinaire character of the old ‘hands-off’ individualism.
b. Aeronaut. Used as adj. and adv. in connection with an automatically controlled aircraft.
1932Flight 20 May 443/1 By means of the adjustable tail plane the machine can be trimmed to fly ‘hands off’. 1935Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 1041 Control of this airplane when operating on one engine was carefully studied with the result that it can be flown ‘hands off’. 1959Times 18 Sept. 7/3 Some 4,000 ‘hands off’ landings have been made. 1966Electronics 3 Oct. 134 On the last orbit, it guided Gemini ii into a hands-off reentry and landing virtually down the stacks of the recovery ships. 1968New Scientist 1 Feb. 251/1 Several companies have developed artificial stabilization systems which enable the helicopter to be flown ‘hands-off’.
55. hands up! An order or direction to people to hold up their hands to signify assent, etc.; also, a robber's, policeman's, etc., order to preclude resistance. Also in Curling (see quot. 1897).
1873J. Miller Life amongst Modocs 193 Hands up, gentlemen! 1887J. Hawthorne Trag. Myst. xviii, Hands up—every soul of you! 1897Encycl. Sport I. 264/1 Hands up, the command of the Skip..to stop sweeping. a1898Mod. (at school). Hands up, those who have the right answer! 1910Encycl. Brit. VII. 646/1 Curling has a language which contains many curious terms... Hands up! stop sweeping.
****** With another noun.
(See also hand and glove, hand of glory, hand over head, hand to mouth, etc.)
56. hand..fist.
a. hand over fist (colloq.) = hand over hand. Also, esp., fig. of the making of money.
1825W. N. Glascock Naval Sketch-Bk. (1826) I. 26 The French..weathered our wake, coming up with us, ‘hand over fist’, in three divisions. 1833S. Smith Life Major J. Downing (1834) 116 They..clawed the money off of his table, hand over fist. 1861M. B. Chesnut Diary 8 Aug. (1949) 107 Fitzhugh Lee and Roony are being promoted hand over fist. 1880W. C. Russell Sailor's Sweetheart II. iii. 173 A heavy squall was coming up hand over fist along with the wind. 1884in L'pool Daily Post 9 Jan. (1885) 6/2 [It] enables..lighter and better rigged whalers to get away from them, as the phrase goes, ‘hand over fist’. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxvii, We..made money hand over fist. 1901Daily Chron. 27 Dec. 3/3 To use a phrase common to the Anglo-Saxon, they have been making money hand-over-fist. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Companions ii. vii. 445 She lost money hand-over-fist for weeks and weeks—and not a murmur—and now she is beginning to get a little back again. 1963Times 12 June 13/4 It pays hand over fist always to take the secondary roads that run along the ‘wrong’ sides of rivers in preference to the main roads that run along their ‘right’ sides.
b. hand to fist (colloq.) = hand to hand.
1652–3Wood Life 4 Mar., Going to the ale-house..they set hand to fist, and drunk very desperatly. 1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. i. (1721) 59 Killing a Lyon and a Bear, Hand to Fist. 1760Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 245 He and Jenny Cummins drank three flasks, hand to fist, last night. 1811Scott Fam. Lett. Sept (1894) I. vii. 229 The Edinburgh reviewers have been down on my poor Don Roderick, hand to fist.
57. hand and foot (also in earlier use f. and h., feet and hs., hs. and f.) are often found in collocation; usually (now always) in adverbial construction; esp. in phr. to bind hand and foot (in mod. use sometimes fig.). to wait upon or † serve (to) hand and foot: to wait upon or serve assiduously. (See also foot n. 26 b.)
c950Lindisf. Gosp. John xi. 44 ᵹebundeno foet & hond. c1000Ags. Gosp. Ibid., Þe dead wæs ᵹebunden handan & fotan. c1200Vices & Virt. (1888) 17 And binden me, baðe handen and fiet. a1300Cursor M. 14355 Bath fete and hand þar was he bunden. c1330Assump. Virg. (B.M. MS.) 70 Sche..seruede hem to hande & fote. c1420Sir Amadace (Camd.) lviii, To serue him wele to fote and honde. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 56 He is forth-with bound hand and foot. 1893Law Times XCIV. 502/2 The Divisional Court held themselves bound hand and foot by the authorities. a1898Mod. They expect to be waited on hand and foot. 1955L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman x. 96 He has everything he wants and servants who wait on him hand and foot.
58. hand{ddd}hand. (See also hand in hand, hand over hand, hand to hand.)
†a. hand by hand, hand for hand: = hand to hand, at close quarters; side by side. hand of hand, hand with hand, to hand and hand, with hand to hand: = hand to hand. Obs.
c1205Lay. 174 Hond wið honde, fuhten þa heȝe men. 13..Coer de L. 4364 Hand be hand to geve bekyr. c1400Sowdone Bab. 394 That thai myght fight with hem anoon, Honde of honde. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas iv. ix. (1554) 107 The King and he walking hand by hand. 1490Caxton Eneydos liv. 150 To fyghte wyth hym hande for hande. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 371 Tha kingis..raid togidder to the toun, Hand for hand. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 56 b, To get upon the walles and with hand to hand to graple with his enemy. 1553Brende Q. Curtius iii. 33 Being enforced to joyne hand for hand, they valiantly used the sworde.
b. from hand to hand: from one person to another; through a series or succession of hands. (Cf. 10.)
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 18 Their writings came to posteritie..from hand to hand. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 10 The word was given from hand to hand through the company. 1882Besant Revolt of Man ix. 217 This tract had been circulated from hand to hand.
c. hand under hand: bringing each hand successively below the other, as in climbing down a rope, etc.: the opposite of hand over hand.
1804Naval Chron. XI. 92 [He] let himself down, hand under hand, by a rope.
59. hand and thigh. Old Irish Law. (See quot.)
1873W. K. Sullivan Introd. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish I. 172 Ultimately, however, daughters appear to have become entitled to inherit all if there were no sons. The land thus given to a daughter was called ‘an inheritance of hand and thigh’. Ibid., An explanation of why the estate ‘of hand and thigh’ was one-third the estate of a Fiath.
60. hand's turn. colloq. A stroke of work.
1828Craven Dial. s.v., She winna do a hands-turn. 1881Queen LXX. 522/3 She..has to be waited on by the maids rather than doing a hand's turn for herself or you.
61. hands-across-the-sea, used attrib. of an act, etc., performed by one country as a gesture of friendship to an overseas country.
1899Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 1/4 Mr. Tree has a new drama in his mind—an old-time hands-across-the-sea subject. 1955Sci. News Let. 5 Feb. 88/3 The Missouri Commission is interested in the experiments, not only as a ‘hands-across-the-sea gesture’..but because the Missouri bunny might also be susceptible to the dread disease, and advance knowledge would permit more effective preventive action. 1957Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Oct. 635/2 What is this but empty rhetoric of the ‘hands-across-the-sea’ brand? 1971C. Fick Danziger Transcript (1973) 88 It was supposed to be a hands-across-the-sea sort of thing.
******* Proverbial phrases and locutions.
62. a. In comparisons, as as bare, flat, as one's hand. b. like hand and glove, etc.: see also hand and glove. †c. to have long hands: see quots.d. to have one's hands full: to have enough to do or as much as one can do, to be fully occupied. e. many hands make light work. f. in the turn(ing) of a hand: in a moment, instantly (cf. in the twinkling of an eye). g. In other expressions: see quots. (to have a hand in the pie: see pie. to play into a person's hands: see play.) h. hands down: with ease, with little or no effort; unconditionally, submissively; orig. in the racing phr. to win hands down, referring to the jockey dropping his hands, and so relaxing his hold on the reins, when victory appears certain.
a.c1420Siege Rouen in Collect. Lond. Cit. (Camden) 4 Buschys and brerys and boughys they brende And made hyt as bare as my honde. 1876Browning Nat. Magic i, The room was as bare as your hand. 1883Harper's Mag. Dec. 147/1 That coast..is flat as your hand, as we say.
b.1798G. Washington Lett. Writ. 1893 XIV. 129 He..has been as familiar with all..as the hand is with the glove.
c.1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 17 What if I should call thee theefe? What if I should say that thou hast long handes? 1828Scott F.M. Perth vi, His father is a powerful man—hath long hands—reaches as far as he can.
d.1470–85Malory Arthur xx. xxii, Ye shalle haue bothe your handes ful of me. 1625Massinger New Way v. i, You shall have your hands full Upon the least incitement. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 65 Horn..had his hands full with the main battle. 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. (1875) I. xii. 479 The king had his hands full in Poictou.
e.14..Sir Beues 3012 (MS. M.) Thoughe Ascaparde be neuer so starke, Many handes make lyght warke! 1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 36 Many handes make a lyghte burthen. 1663F. Hawkins Youth's Behav. 90 Many hands make light work.
f.a1300Cursor M. 23223 Quils þou moght turn þi hand abute, It suld worth rose witvten dute. 1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner F v, In the turne of an hand: in the twinckling of an eye. a1632T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. ii. xxxvi. 289 In the turning of an hand they were all in flames.
g.1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 133 b, Thou must hold vp thy hand to thine eares for me: that is to say, thou shall confirme me this by an oath. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. i. ii. 17 He that writes often, shall often receiue letters for answere: for one hand washeth another.
h.1867‘Pips’ Lyrics & Lays 155 There were good horses in those days, as he can well recall, But Barker upon Elepoo, hands down, shot by them all. 1882Moonshine 3 June 265 (caption) Won!! ‘Hands Down’. 1913Mrs. H. Ward Mating of Lydia ii. xii, That I should surrender, hands down, to a lot of trumpery complaints and grievances. 1920W. B. Money Humours of Parish 126, I started off in the race in full nigger costume, and won hands down. 1958Times 14 Aug. 9/7 Double this speed, however, and the submarine wins hands down.
III. Attributive uses and Combinations.
63. attrib.
a. Of or belonging to the hand, as hand-clasp, hand-gesture, hand-gout, hand-grasp, hand-guard, hand-kiss, hand-movement, hand-reach, hand-rest, hand-skill, hand-touch, hand-turn, hand-wave, etc.
b. Worn on the hand, as hand-fetter, hand-ring, hand-ruffle, hand-shackle.
1887Jefferies Amaryllis at the Fair 85 Books..bound in the best style of *hand-art.
1583Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 105 Fayth plighted in *handclaspe. 1897Hall Caine Christian xi, Their hands met in a long hand-clasp.
1930R. Paget Babel ii. 56 The large number of ideas which cannot be symbolized directly by *hand-gesture. 1962Listener 1 Mar. 382/2 The energy and urgency of hand gesture, visible in his recent drawings, has extended itself on the larger scale of these paintings.
1616–61B. Holyday Persius 325 When the knotty *hand-gout has once broke Their joynts.
1893Daily News 11 Jan. 2/1 Losing their foothold and *handgrasp on the ladder ways.
1874Boutell Arms & Arm. viii. 128 At the handle the shaft [of the lance] passed through a small circular shield, or *hand-guard (called a vamplate).
1861C. Reade Cloister & Hearth ii. 32 A sweet little coaxing *hand-kiss. 1958F. Harris My Life & Loves V. i. 28 She sent me back with an imperious hand-kiss.
1637Bp.'s Transcr. of Register S. Geo. Martyr (Canterbury), [Signed] William Welton by W his *hand mark.
1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind v. 254 During the *hand-movements, the gaze is directed fixedly upon the object.
1795Southey Joan of Arc ix. 258 At his side Within *hand-reach his sword.
1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 279/1 *Hand rest, the T-shaped support for supporting hand-turning tools in working at a lathe when a slide rest is not used. 1922Joyce Ulysses 225 Two carfuls of tourists passed slowly, their women sitting fore, gripping frankly the handrests.
1845James A. Neil ii, His collar and *hand-ruffles were of lace.
1549Hooper 10 Commandm. xi. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 405 A manacle or *hand-shackle to keep them from doing of ill.
1883–4J. G. Butler in Bible-Work II. 131 Daily labor, *hand-toil or brain-toil.
1859Bentley's Q. Rev. July 544 When it comes to shifts and *hand-turns..we are utterly at a stand.
c. That is or may be held or carried in the hand, portable; as hand-anvil, hand-baggage, hand-camera (so hand-camerist); hand-candle, hand-candlestick, hand-lamp, hand-lantern, hand-lexicon, hand-litter, hand-mirror, hand-luggage, hand-microphone, hand-mike, hand-net, hand-props, hand-screen, hand-specimen, hand-spectroscope, hand-tray, etc.
1889Pall Mall G. 21 Sept. 6/1 The two travellers..stowed their *hand-baggage away in their compartment. 1902Daily Chron. 27 Feb. 3/3 The Boer delegates have only brought with them hand-baggage.
1889Photogr. News 15 Nov. 755/1 For the *hand camera there is, I believe, a great and wide field of usefulness. 1890Anthony's Photogr. Bull III. 1 Both to the stay-at-home and the tourist the hand camera has become a necessity. 1910Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 588/1 Hand-cameras are made in a thousand patterns.
1892Photogr. Ann. II. 52 It is this ungentlemanly abuse of the hand camera which brings the whole class of *hand camerists into disrepute. 1897C. M. Hepworth Animated Photogr. xiii. 96 Subjects which are suitably lighted and otherwise ‘possible’ for the hand camerist may be safely attempted with a cinematographic camera.
1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1706/8 One large Candlestick and Socket, one *hand Candlestick, Snuff-pan, and Snuffers.
1892A. Heales Archit. Ch. Denmark 31 A king is holding up a similar *hand-cross.
1862Illustr. Lond. News 11 Jan. 51/1 With a *hand-eye-glass disposed across the nose.
1895Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. viii. §i. 388 The contact- or *hand-goniometer.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. x, Thou..wilt walk through thy world by the sunshine of what thou callest Truth, or even by the *hand-lamp of what I call Attorney-Logic. 1836Mechanics' Mag. XXV. 317 The fact is that no unguarded light should ever be permitted in any stable, warehouse, cellar, or bed chamber; cheap, convenient, and even elegant hand lamps and lanterns suited to these uses, are met with in abundance. 1869Dunkin Midn. Sky 8 He has furnished himself with a *hand-lamp. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 401/2 Hand-lamp, a portable electric-light fitting suitable for carrying in the hand. Also called inspection-lamp, portable-lamp. 1965‘Lauchmonen’ Old Thorn's Harvest x. 134 They all sit down near to their handlamps.
1862Marsh Eng. Lang. iii. 49 In a *hand-lexicon of any modern tongue.
1888Ld. Macnaghten in Law Rep. Ho. Lords xiii. 55 Passengers take the lighter articles of luggage—or *‘hand-luggage’ as it is called,—in the carriage with them. 1908Daily Chron. 8 Jan. 4/4 Glancing furtively at that terrible piece of hand-luggage, a New York Sunday newspaper. 1924W. J. Locke Coming of Amos iv, Maxime possessed himself of her hand-luggage. 1970New Yorker 16 May 41/3 ‘Any hand luggage?’ says the clerk, peering over the top of the counter.
1968Radio Times 20 June 58/1 For long I have been puzzled about the use of *hand microphones.
1968Punch 3 Jan. 29/1 He does know precisely what he's about when he clutches a *handmike and sings.
1888Harper's Mag. Dec. 162/1 An ivory backed *hand-mirror.
1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 16 A little *hand nest of drawers.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxiv. 243 Birds..caught in their little *hand-nets.
1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage iii. 34 ‘Props’ is an abbreviation of ‘stage properties’, and therefore *‘hand-props’ are things handled by the actors, such as fans, snuff-boxes, etc.
1891D'O. Carte in Pall Mall G. 5 Dec. 1/3 There were some 3000 *hand-properties employed in ‘Ivanhoe’, and 10 scenes.
1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 342 Painted shells and roses..on card-racks and *hand-screens.
1815W. Phillips Outl. Min. & Geol. (1818) 198 By the examination of *hand specimens.
1871tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. lxix. 418 The *hand-spectroscope of Huggins.
1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 228 A payre of *hand-trayes.
1535Coverdale Num. xxxv. 18 Yf he smyte him with an *handweapon of wodd.
d. Managed or worked with the hand (sometimes spec. with one hand); driven or operated by manual power, as distinguished from that of an animal or a machine; as hand-bat, hand-bellows, hand-besom, hand-brake, hand-brush, hand-card (in cotton-spinning), hand-carriage, hand-comb, hand-drill, hand-drum, hand-feed, hand-flail, hand-harpoon, hand-hook, hand-lathe, hand-lever, hand-machine, hand-mangle, † hand-mell (= mallet), hand-mortar, hand-piercer, hand-pump, hand-punch (hence as v.), hand puppet, hand-quern, hand-rake, hand-rope, hand-sail, hand sewing-machine, hand-shears, hand-shell, hand-sled, hand-sledge, hand-sleigh, hand-tool, hand-wagon, hand-wheel, etc.
e. Made or done by hand, as hand-embroidery.
1781Smeathman in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 181 note, Beaten level..with their feet and a kind of *hand-bat or beetle.
1665Hooke Microgr. 23 Blowing now and then the Coles with *hand-Bellows.
1894Westm. Gaz. 4 Sept. 4/2 To stop the train at the proper place by the application of the ordinary *hand-brake only. 1913Autocar Handbk. (ed. 5) xiv. 216 In some Coventry Daimler cars the *hand brake can be caused either to withdraw the clutch or not when it is applied. 1959Times 15 Dec. 13/5 Consternation clutches at the heart while the driver clutches the handbrake. 1968Sun 12 Nov. 8/5 Handbrake turn, the technique involving using the handbrake instead of reverse gear, for negotiating ‘impossible’ hairpins.
1747H. Glasse Art of Cookery xvii. 150 Let them be scrubed clean with a *Hand-Brush and Sand, and Fuller's Earth. 1904J. Vaizey More about Pixie (1910) i. 7 She went down on her knees, and swept up the dust with a small hand-brush.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 273/1 Carding..was performed by a pair of *hand-cards upon the knee.
1745Ellis Mod. Husb. VI. ii. 14 This Farmer..carried his Wheat-sheaves into his Barn on a Sunday, by *Hand-carriage. 1859Dickens in All Year Round (1860) 11 Aug. 422/2 A hand-carriage, drawn by a man... I saw within it an old man.
1882Encycl. Dict. I. 685/2 The slivers are made by *hand-combs.
1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4712/4 Several Persons..did attempt to murther..Mr. Stone..wounding him with a *Hand-Crow.
1770–4A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) I. 431 The seed must be drilled by a *hand-drill.
1864J. A. Grant Walk across Africa viii. 144 A band of *hand-drums is near the sultan's hut, giving lighter dance-music for the amusement of the boys and girls. 1879Stainer Music of Bible 149 It was a tambour, timbrel, or *hand-drum. 1958E. Borneman in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xxi. 275 A male leader and a small group..who accompanied themselves on..hand drums,..and gong-gong.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 401/1 *Hand feed, the hand operation of the feed mechanism of a machine tool, as distinct from an automatic feed. 1962Gloss. Autom. Data Proc. (B.S.I.) 91 Hand-feed punch, a key punch into which punched cards have to be fed manually one at a time.
1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 233 The *hand-harpoon is placed upon the nick or rest with its stock.
1765Croker Dict. Arts & Sc., *Hand-Hook, an instrument used by smiths to twist square iron.
1873Young Englishwoman Mar. 131/1 A most useful..*hand-machine..at the low price of 39 s. 1927T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk 81 Practically coincident with the hand knitting of jumpers and the like came the hand-machine knitting.
1882C. Pebody Eng. Journalism. xv. 107 He used to..make use of his mother's *hand-mangle to work off impressions of type.
1600Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 133 For a *handmell, and crosspin of iron, to mend or make bald⁓rigs for our bells.
1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4059/3, 2 Hawitzers, and 100 *Hand-Mortars.
1667Primatt City & C. Build. 26 Whether they draw Water with Buckets, or *Hand-Pumps, or Chain-Pumps.
1962Gloss. Autom. Data Proc. (B.S.I.) 91 *Hand punch, a key punch into which punched cards have to be fed manually one at a time. Ibid. 96 Hand punch, a tape punch operated directly by hand. 1967A. Battersby Network Analysis (ed. 2) xv. 264 Their decisions are hand-punched on to special cards.
1950Dryad Handicraft Catal. 74 *Hand puppets and string puppets. 1957Encycl. Brit. XIV. 906/1 Hand puppets can be of wood, plaster,..or stuffed cloth.
c1000ælfric Judg. xvi. 21 Heton hine grindan æt hira *hand-cwyrne. 1878Lecky Eng. in 18th C. II. v. 26 The only mills for grinding corn were hand-querns, turned by a woman's hand.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §28 A man or woman folowythe the mower with a *hande-rake halfe a yarde longe, with . vii. or . viii. tethe.
1495–7Naval Acc. Hen. VII, (1896) 267 *Hande ropes—xviij; takes for the mayne sayle—ij.
a1698Temple (J.), The seamen will neither stand to their *handsails, nor suffer the pilot to steer.
1881P. B. Du Chaillu Land Midn. Sun II. 256 The women were up and busy sharpening the *hand-scythes.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1058/1 *Hand sewing-machine, a form of sewing-machine in which the parts are pivoted jaws, operated in the manner of scissors.
1876Fox Bourne Locke II. xi. 193 The coin being cut with *hand-shears, and stamped with hand-hammers.
1767H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) IV. 53 (Stanf. s.v. Granada) They tossed their granadoes or *hand-shells among us.
1746Coll. New H. Hist. Soc. IX. 141 [I] went to mill with a *hand sled. 1780in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1905) 7th Ser. V. 6 [They] hall their wood on hand sleds. 1843Knickerbocker XXII. 294 The serjeant's hand-sled, piled with wood. 1877Rep. Vermont Board Agric. IV. 92 Provided with a handsled, the boy would first roll on to it the back log.
1848R. M. Ballantyne Hudson's Bay (1890) 83 The *hand-sledge is a thin flat slip or plank of wood... Indians invariably use it when visiting their traps, for the purpose of dragging home the animals or game they may have caught. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxv. 249 They have given us hand-sledges for our baggage.
1829G. Head Forest Scenes 203 [The trees] had been..removed by means of small *hand sleighs purposely prepared for them. 1836C. P. Traill Backwoods of Canada 110 We were overtaken on our return by S—with a handsleigh, which is a sort of wheelbarrow, [etc.]. 1841G. Powers Hist. Sk. Coos 70 A rude hand sleigh. 1936D. McCowan Anim. Canad. Rockies xii. 103 An experienced trapper..delivered it on a hand sleigh.
1931Engineering 9 Jan. 62/3 The roll adjusting gear is operated by a single *handwheel, through an arrangement of steel bevel and spur gears. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 402/1 Hand wheel, a grooved pulley provided with a cranked handle and mounted on a universal form of vice, used for driving a lathe or other tool by hand. 1948Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Mar. 149 The pointer..moved steadily away from the line, and required a compensatory movement of the handwheel at a rate of 1 r.p.m. to keep it on the line.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 255/2 The ores are generally brought to surface by means of a common hand-whim.
64. a. objective and obj. gen., as hand-binder, hand-clapping, hand-holding (hence as a back-formation hand-hold vb.), hand-kissing, hand-spoiler, hand-warmer, hand-washing; hand-wringing adj.
1585Higins tr. Junius' Nomenclator 196/2 Manicæ..manicls, or *handbinders.
1838Carlyle Misc. (1857) IV. 144 If rumour and *hand-clapping could be credited. 1888D. C. Murray Weaker Vessel i, A dropping fire of hand-clapping. 1948B. G. M. Sundkler Bantu Prophets S. Afr. vi. 189 After the hymn..sung with gusto and more handclapping, the testimonies begin. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. vi. 94 Bangor children find that an innocent hand-clapping game goes neatly to the words.
1963Movie Apr. 12/1 Newsreel photographers were often forced to *hand-hold their cameras.
1908Daily Chron. 13 Mar. 4/6 *Hand-holding ensures a rapid means of communication between the hand and the heart or brain. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day v. 94 Hand-holdings and childish kisses.
1868Yates Rock Ahead iii. v, The ladies exchanged sweet *handkissings.
1836E. Howard R. Reefer xxvi, I brought up to her the penitent *hand-presser.
15..Aberd. Reg. V. 15 (Jam.) Maisterfull and violent *handputting in his dekin.
1884Pall Mall G. Extra 24 July 14/2 *Hand-warmers fitted with charcoal pans.
1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 43 The Talmud..devotes one whole treatise to *hand-washings. 1964M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) ii. 22 Nevertheless the main sterilizing action of hand-washing is the mechanical removal of epithelial scales and surface bacteria.
1603Dekker Wonderfull Yeare C, You desolate *hand-wringing widowes.
b. instrumental = With the hand, by hand; esp. as distinguished from what is done by machinery; as hand-coloured ppl. adj., hand-colouring, hand-comber, hand-combing, hand-done, hand-drawn ppl. adjs., hand-dressing, hand-eating, hand-feed vb., hand-feeding, hand-fed, hand-fired ppl. adj. (so hand-firing), hand-fisher, hand-flung, hand-held, hand-hewn (ppl.) adjs., hand-hidden ppl. adjs., hand-kill vb., hand-knit adj. (also as n.), hand-knitted ppl. adj., hand-knitting, † hand-laboured, hand-milker, hand-milking, hand-moulded ppl. adjs., hand-operated, hand-rear vb., hand reared ppl. adj., hand-rub vb., hand-rubbed, hand-set ppl. adjs., hand-sew vb. (so hand-sewing, hand-sewn), hand-spun, hand-thrown, hand-tooled ppl. adjs., hand-tufted pa. pple. and ppl. adj., hand-turned, ppl. adjs., hand-washing (see also 64 a), hand-weaver, hand-weaving, hand-woven ppl. adj., hand-wrought ppl. adj., etc.
1796W. Marshall West. Eng. I. 142 (E.D.S.) With a Beating-axe..large chips, shavings or sods are struck off..This operation is termed *hand-beating.
1869Eng. Mech. 31 Dec. 377/2 The prints..were.. finished by *hand-colouring.
1894H. Speight Nidderdale 304 This was in the days of *hand-combing and hand-weaving.
1907N. Munro Daft Days xvii. 151 Another *hand-done bill upon the counter. 1908Westm. Gaz. 28 Dec. 5/2 Insets of hand-done crochet form one of the newest designs.
1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 737/1 *Hand-drawn linen. 1937Evening News 15 Mar. 3/6 (Advt.), Hand-drawn top collar. 1957Manvell & Huntley Technique Film Music iii. 167 Attempts at creating hand-drawn sound-tracks have been in progress since the coming of the sound film. Ibid., He built up a sound-track of hand-drawn musical effects, mixing them occasionally with normal orchestral instruments to give variety.
1857Livingstone Trav. xi. 206, I often presented my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe how the habit of *hand-eating prevailed.
1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 421 The snow..render[s] it necessary to *hand-feed their flocks of sheep.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 65/1 To the busy shepherd, *hand-feeding may not seem worth while. 1968Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 24 Hand feeding, the manual placing of single sheets of paper or other material to the machine lays.
1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 191 Cattle, when *hand-fed.
1880Libr. Univ. Knowl. (N.Y.) XI. 404 The joints should be carefully *hand-filled with fine screened sand.
1963Times 23 May 7/3 Existing *hand-fired plant still in fair condition.
1908Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 624/1 Owing to the fact that unscreened British coal is extensively employed in Hamburg *hand-firing is more generally adopted. 1961Listener 12 Oct. 583/2 ‘Hand-firing’, or the fact that the fuel has to be brought to the boiler, is the drawback of all solid-fuel boilers.
1855‘P. Paxton’ Captain Priest 147 In the deeper places of such streams must the *handfisher seek his prey.
1913Kipling Songs from Books 113 But Tubal fashioned the *hand-flung spears.
1923Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 393/2 The *hand-held camera implies ‘exposures’ of brief duration. 1969Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 10 Jan. 18 (caption) The photograph was taken by astronaut Anders with hand-held Hasselblad. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 584/1 All four motors are controlled from a single hand-held push⁓button control unit.
1938M. K. Rawlings Yearling xiv. 143 The thick *hand-hewn slabs of the shingled roof. 1969Computers & Humanities III. 240 The work of Hagelman and Barnes is born into competition with one of the last of the hand-hewn concordances.
1859Tennyson Vivien 895 Face *Hand-hidden, as for utmost grief.
c1575Chalm. Air c. 25 in Balfour Practicks (1754) 585 Gif ony Fleshour..slayis or *hand-killis ony beif or flesh with his awin handis.
1920F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise (1921) i. ii. 63 The *hand-knit, sleeveless jerseys were stylish. 1958Handknit [see bawneen]. 1959Manch. Guardian 29 July 5/1 Woollens fall into two classes, the cashmere jerseys, sweaters, and cardigans..and the Scottish handknits. 1967Harper's Bazaar Sept. 49 The neck, High-polo-ed, hand-knit.
1881Sylvia's Home Jrnl. in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) xvii. 189 The largest stock in the kingdom of *hand-knitted socks and stockings. 1952M. Laski Village viii. 135 A skirt and a hand-knitted jumper.
1902Daily Chron. 20 Dec. 5/2 Another ancient industry is at its last gasp—viz., the *hand-knitting of Kilmarnock bonnets.
1961J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 740 The War of 1914–18, because of the acute shortage of *hand milkers, gave an unexpected impetus to the adoption of machine milking.
1915J. London Let. 26 Jan. (1966) 446 Get Timms' experience with *hand-milking labor conditions. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 55/2 In the past when hand-milking was the rule.
1854H. Miller Sch. & Schm. xiii. (1858) 287 This same *hand-moulded pottery of the bronze period.
1936Discovery Nov. 350/1 The Electrotor meter has a *hand-operated pump movement.
1893G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xix. 128 The futility of attempting to *hand-rear them.
1894Daily News 2 Oct. 6/6 Both with natural and *hand-reared birds.
1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 224 *Hand-rub and bandage legs. 1862Beveridge Hist. India III. vii. iii. 101 Two attendants whose duty it was to hand-rub (shampoo) their master.
1908Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 9/4 All *hand-set [type] becomes unnecessary. 1938Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Mar. 204/3 Hand-set in most attractive type.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 318/3 Hame Strap, *hand sewed.
1919Barrie Alice Sit-by-the-Fire i. 21 You *hand-sew them and stretch them over a tin cylinder.
1946Nature 14 Dec. 868/1 The speed of expert *hand-sewing, thirty stitches per minute, is slow and laborious compared with that of machine work. 1961T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 161/1 Hand sewing, usually sewing through the fold by hand on the sewing frame, to suspended cords or tapes arranged across the back of a book.
1887Col. & Indian Exhib., Rep. Col. Sect. 401 A handsome pair of men's *hand-sewn Wellingtons. 1911Rep. on Labour & Social Conditions in Germany III. vi–vii. 101, I could have my boots soled and heeled with this quality of leather, and hand-sewn for 3s. 5d. 1959Times 7 Mar. 9/2 A pigskin-covered whip, tightly stretched and handsewn, makes a pleasing and serviceable article.
1647Trapp Comm. Matt. v. 11 There are tongue-smiters, as well as *hand-smiters.
1892Eastern Morning News (Hull) 16 Feb. 2/8 *Hand-split laths.
1895Daily News 15 June 5/3 A piece of *hand-spun and hand-woven cloth.
1884Roe Nat. Ser. Story v, A profitable crop..can only be grown by careful *hand-thinning.
1909Westm. Gaz. 22 Oct. 4/2 The barbed spear used..is a *hand-thrown weapon. 1933Archit. Rev. LXXIV. 38/1 (caption) These are hand-thrown pieces on the wheel.
1895‘Mark Twain’ in North Amer. Rev. July 2 An illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, *hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 25 June p. vii/2 The Swiss hand-tooled bindings are disappointing.
1906Daily Chron. 5 June 4/5 Killybegs carpets, which are *hand-tufted by the peasants. 1922Joyce Ulysses 697 Handtufted Axminster Carpet.
1962BSI News Feb. 17/1 Methods for the determination of colour fastness of textiles to a number of agencies, for example, soda boiling, *handwashing, [etc.].
1827G. Higgins Celtic Druids 263 note, I wish to God our poor *hand-weavers could as easily migrate to Sydney.
1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 177/2 In *hand-weaving, the weaver suspends his operations from time to time in order to apply dressing to his warp.
1772A. Young in R. Dossie Mem. Agric. (1782) III. 27 [I] *hand-weeded it, Aug. 22nd. 1807Ann. Reg. 861 The plants are twice hand-weeded.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Mark xiv. 58 Ic to-wurpe þis *hand-worhte tempel. 1881Truth 19 May 686/1 The train..was covered with hand-wrought embroidery.
1880L. Higgin Handbk. Embroidery 62 Neutral-tinted *hand-woven linen. 1925A. Huxley Let. 2 Nov. (1969) 258 We bought..twelve yards of hand woven material.
c. locative, etc. In or as to the hands; as hand-bound, hand-gyved, hand-lopped, hand-shackled, hand-tied ppl. adjs.
c1600Distracted Emp. i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 176 Better *hand-bounde wrastell with the Sea.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. i. (1872) 4 A poor Legislative..had let itself be *hand-gyved.
d. similative, etc., as hand-footed, hand-high, hand-like, hand-shaped adjs.
1890O. Crawfurd Round the Calendar 147 The wall running by the garden paths, *hand-high.
1802Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) I. 63 The *hand-like conformation of their fore-feet.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 102 Branches widening, *hand-shaped.
65. Special Combs. † hand-adventure, a single-handed contest; hand-alphabet, an alphabet of signs made by the hands, a ‘deaf-and-dumb’ alphabet; hand-bag, (a) a light travelling-bag, (b) a lady's bag for accessories; hand-balancer, an acrobat; hand-bible slang = holy stone n.; hand block (see block n. 7), a block used in printing textiles by hand; also attrib.; hence hand-blocked a. (cf. block-printed adj.); hand-blown ppl. a., of glass blown by a craftsman; hand-board U.S., a board in front of a preacher or speaker; hand-buckler, a small shield held in the left hand to parry an adversary's sword-thrusts; hand-cannon, an early portable fire-arm of the cannon type; hand-car (U.S.), a light car propelled by cranks or levers worked by hand, used in the inspection and repairing of a railway line; hand-chair, a Bath chair; hence handchairman, one who draws a Bath chair; hand-darg (Sc.), a day's work of manual labour; hand-drop (see quot.); † hand-evil, gout in the hands; hand-fight, a fight at close quarters, or hand to hand; hand-fish, a pediculate fish, having the pectoral fin articulated; hand-fives, the usual game of fives as distinguished from bat-fives (see fives2 1); hand-flower, the flower of the hand-plant (q.v.) or hand-flower-tree; † hand-friend, (?) a friend at hand, or who will ‘stand by’ one in case of need; hand-gear, the starting-gear of an engine; hand-hole, a hole giving passage for little more than the hand; hand-in (Real Tennis), the person who is serving the ball; † hand in and hand out, the name of a game with a ball in 15th c.; hand-jam v. (Mountaineering), to wedge a hand in a crack as a handhold; hence as n.; also hand-jamming vbl. n.; hand-jive (see quot. 1961); hence hand-jiving vbl. n.; hand-laid ppl. a. (cf. laid paper); hand-language, the art of conversing by signs made with the hands; † hand-laying (hond leggynge), imposition of hands, ordination; hand-lead (Naut.), a small lead used in taking soundings less than 20 fathoms; hand-letter v. (see quots.); hence hand-lettered ppl. adj., hand-lettering vbl. n.; hand-light (Gardening), a bell-glass (= handglass 2); † hand-loose a., free from restraint; † hand-maker, one who makes gain fraudulently (cf. 45 a); so † hand-making; hand-mast (see quots.); also attrib. as hand-mast piece, hand-mast spar; † hand-muff, a boxing glove; hand-mule (see quot. 1892); also attrib. as hand-mule spinner; hand orchis, a name for Orchis maculata, from the finger-like lobes of the tubers; hand-out (Real Tennis), the person to whom the ball is served; hand-pick v. trans., to pick by hand; also fig.; so hand-picked ppl. a.; hand-piece, handpiece, (a) the part of a dental drill that is held in the hand; (b) the part of a sheep-shearing machine that is held in the shearer's hand; hand-pin (Gunnery), see quot.; hand-plant, a Mexican tree (Cheirostemon platanoides, family Sterculiaceæ), having large flowers with bright red stamens, which are united at the base and then spread in five finger-like bundles; hand-plate, (a) = finger-plate; (b) a small plate to pass over the surface of work to be tested; † hand-point, a children's game, the same as span-counter; hand-pollinate v. trans., to pollinate by hand; so hand-pollination; hand-post, a guide-post at the parting of roads, a finger-post n.; hand-print, the mark left by the impression of a hand; also (quot. 1886), a representation of a hand; hand-promise, a solemn form of betrothal among the Irish peasantry; hand-quill, one of the large pinion feathers of a bird; † hand-reaching [cf. Ger. handreichung], used by Coverdale for ministration or contribution; hand-reading, palmistry; so hand-reader; hand-screw (see quot. 1850); also attrib. as hand-screw-maker; † hand-shaft (see quot.); hand signal, a manual indication by the driver of a motor vehicle, pedal cycle, etc., of his intention to stop, turn, etc.; † hand-sleeve, a sleeve reaching to the wrist; hand-spring, a summersault in which the body is supported by the hands while the feet are in the air; hand-stand, an act in gymnastics in which the body is supported by the hands while the feet are in the air; also attrib.; † hand-stripe = hand-stroke; † hand-stuff, app. some sort of refuse; hand-swipe, a shadoof worked by hand for raising water; † hand-table, a writing tablet; hand-taut a. = hand-tight; hand-tennis, tennis in which the ball is struck with the hand, not with a racket; hand-tight a., as tight as it can be drawn or fixed by the hand; † hand-timber, small wood; hand-towel, a small towel for wiping the hands after washing; hand traverse Mountaineering (see quots. 1897, 1957); hand-tree = hand-plant; hand-wave v., to smooth the surface of (a measure of corn) with the hand, instead of using a strike; † hand-whip, a riding-whip; † hand-wolf, a wolf brought up by hand.
1649H. Watson Valentine & Orson xiii. 59 All this *hand-adventure now knitting up in this manner.
1680Dalgarno Didascolocophus viii. 73, I have at last fixt upon a Finger or *Hand-alphabet according to my mind. 1837Penny Cycl. VIII. 283/1 We shall give his hand-alphabet.
1862Englishwoman's Domestic Mag. July 143 Portable umbrellas..may easily be carried in the *hand-bag. 1867A. D. Whitney L. Goldthwaite ii. 32 Their hand-bags were hung up. 1880M. E. Braddon Just as I am xlv, She had her waterproof..and a hand-bag. 1896G. B. Shaw Let. 9 Nov. (1965) 700, I want to buy a handbag for the journey. 1899O. Wilde Importance of being Earnest i. 37 ‘Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you?..’ ‘In a handbag.’..‘A handbag?’ 1913Vanity Fair Dec. 79/2 The latest novelty in hand bags. 1923Weekly Dispatch 13 May 14 Crocodile Calf handbag. 1937Discovery Dec. 374/2 Ladies' shoes and hand-bags. 1968New Society 22 Aug. 266/1 Non-U handbag/U bag (the thing carried by women).
1927Daily Tel. 30 Aug. 12/6 Masu, the Japanese *hand-balancer and juggler.
[a1865Smyth Sailor's Word-Bk. (1867) 98 Bible,..a squared piece of freestone to grind the deck with sand in cleaning it; a small holystone, so called from seamen using them kneeling.] 1908O. Onions Pedlar's Pack 109 That was Ben, and i' the Dolphin, where all they knew o' Bibles was the *hand-bibles they holystoned the decks wi'.
1839Ure Dict. Arts I. 215 The *hand blocks are made of sycamore or pear-tree wood, or of deal faced with these woods. 1936Archit. Rev. LXXIX. 291/1 Any artist of decorative faculties can create patterns for printed cretonnes or linens,..provided he is sufficiently familiar with the advantages and drawbacks of roller-printing, screen-printing and handblock-printing.
1928Daily Express 9 Jan. 5/2 The new..*hand-blocked linens are a boon. 1931Ibid. 21 Sept. 5/2 Pure silks, whose hand-blocked patterns have all been designed by famous..British artists.
1928Ibid. 28 May 7/2 An exhibition of *hand-blown and enamelled glass. 1958Archit. Rev. CXXIV. 256 These fittings are made of thick handblown glass in white or dark grey-green with inner shades masking the bulbs.
1734Col. Rec. Georgia III. 130 Part of the Twenty one Pieces of Mahogany, Ash, Sycamore, Ilex and Red Bay Timber the Growth of Georgia used in the Experiments for making *Hand Boards &c. 1845A. Wiley in Indiana Mag. Hist. (1927) XXIII. 165 Behold the..awkward man arise and place his chair before him for his pulpit and hand-board. 1857P. Cartwright Autobiogr. xx. 203 They drove a stake down, and nailed a board to it,..and this was my hand board.
1847–73Halliwell, *Hand-cannon, a musket. 1874Boutell Arms & Arm. Notes 293 The hand-cannon soon gave place to the hand-gun.
1850Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 14, I left the *hand-car and entered a railway-train, which carried me in one hour into the town. 1894Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 5/1 A relief train carrying hand-cars eventually rescued them from their perilous position.
1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. I. 37 It seemed to mee a Silla de manos, or easie *hand-Chair.
1857Dunglison Med. Lex. 447 *Hand-drop, Wrist-drop. A popular term for the paralysis of the hand, induced by the action of lead.
1562Turner Baths 6 b, It is good..for the *handeuell and fote euell.
1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 168/1 Where-vpon they fell at *hand-fight. 1849Grote Greece ii. lx. (1862) V. 286 A strenuous hand-fight then commenced.
1847Carpenter Zool. §564 The Cheironectes , or *Hand-fish, bears a strong resemblance to the common Angler in its structure and habits; but its fins are still more capable of motion, enabling it to walk along the ground almost in the manner of quadrupeds.
1905Westm. Gaz. 17 Mar. 4/1 Our game of *hand-fives is perhaps the closest approach we have to the central type of the games.
1822C. Wells Stories after Nature (1891) 17 There is one thing greater than revenge, and *hand-friend to our cause—it is mercy.
1842G. Francis Dict. Arts, etc. *Hand-gear. 1846Worcester, Hand-Gear, an arrangement of levers and other contrivances for opening and shutting the valves of a steam-engine.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1055/1 *Hand-hole, a small hole at or near the bottom of a boiler, for the insertion of the hand in cleaning, etc. It is closed by a hand-hole plate. 1967Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 24 Handhole, a small opening with an access cover to provide for the inspection, repair or cleaning of the inside of a vessel or pipe.
1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports iii. i. v. §4. 690 If the *hand-in makes one, the game is called vantage.
1477Act 17 Edw. IV, c. 3 Diversez novelx ymaginez Jeuez appelez Cloishe Kaylez half Kewle *Hondyn & Hondoute & Quekeborde. 1540Order Hen. VIII in Rymer Fœdera (1710) XIV. 707 Keper aswell of the Playes of Hande oute and al Keyles.
1948H. C. Parker Climbs on Gritstone I. 37 The crack facing the Pinnacle is climbed, with the use of an awkward *hand jam, to the second chockstone.
1937Mountaineering Jrnl. V. 138/1 A crack in the right-hand corner of the rectangular grass platform was climbed with the aid of small holds and *hand jamming. 1957Clark & Pyatt Mountaineering in Brit. xvi. 237 A new method of hand-jamming, enabling a hold to be obtained in a cleft with far more flexibility and far less pain than the previously accepted method.
1958M. Pugh Wilderness of Monkeys 33 There was no room for dancing but here and there couples were *hand-jiving and one girl expressed ecstasy by pulling her hair down into her eyes. 1958Radio Times 14 Feb. 5/1 The world of skiffle, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and the hand-jive. 1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1125 Hand-jive, system of rhythmic hand-movements in time to music where floor is too crowded to allow people present to jive (dance), esp. as in coffee bars.
1958Punch 12 Feb. 288/3 *Hand-jiving only employs the dancer from the waist up and affords a great saving on Espresso space, the calf muscles and shoe-leather.
1899*Hand-laid [see deckle 2].
1680Dalgarno Didascolocophus viii. 73 Neither..is it so proper a medium of interpretation between persons present face to face, as a *Hand-language.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 243 Unwis *hond leggynge is chalenged of þe [Pope Leo].
1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 314 Sometimes we should have seven Fathom on one Side of the Ship, and no Ground with the *Hand Lead on the other. 1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 384 The hand-lead-line, which is generally 20 fathoms in length, is marked at every 2 or 3 fathoms.
1889Century Dict., *Hand-letter, an impress on a book-cover by movable types from a hand⁓stamp. 1960G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 171/1 Hand-letters, brass letters, mounted in wooden handles, which are used by the finisher for lettering the title, etc., on the cover of a hand-bound book.
1907N. Munro Daft Days xvii. 150 A large *hand-lettered bill was in each window. 1969‘I. Drummond’ Man with Tiny Head xv. 171 A hand-lettered sign.
1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes iv. 117 A few Filmotype lettering styles unlike the usual type faces appear to be special *handlettering.
1824M. R. Mitford Our Village 13 A melon bed!—fie! What a grand pompous name was that for three melon plants under a *hand-light! 1860Delamer Kitch Gard. (1861) 78 A *handlight or bell-glass. 1882Garden 4 Feb. 72/1 Cuttings..root readily under a small handlight.
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. v. 304 The peple lyke a cumpanie of Wylde beistes, *hand louse.
1549Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 97 A *hande maker in hys office, to make his sonne a great man.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jude 23 *Handmaking of gaynes, which thinge dooeth moste principally defile the doctrine of Christe.
1830Marryat King's Own III. i. 11 We can carry away a top-mast, and make a new one out of the *hand-mast, at sea. 1875T. Laslett Timber 232 Hand-mast..is a technical term applied..to a round spar, holding at the least 24, and not exceeding 72, inches in circumference.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Hand mast-spar, a round mast; those from Riga are..over 70 feet long by 20 inches diameter.
1814Sporting Mag. 93 In the on-set the combatants wore *hand-muffs.
1834H. Martineau Moral ii. 59 *Hand-mules are worked in pairs. 1892Labour Commission Gloss., Hand-mules, spinning-machinery, driven by steam power and manual labour combined, used in producing yarn.
1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports iii. i. v. §4. 690 if the player who fails to return the ball is the server or hand-in, he becomes *hand-out.
1831Sutherland Farm Rep. 72 in Brit. Husb. (1840) III, A few boys and girls *hand-pick the whole. 1881Chicago Times 4 June, Good to choice mediums [sc. beans] were quotable at $2.25 & 2.40 per bu. for hand-picked. 1898Advance (Chicago) 3 Mar. 282/1 [Loyola] face to face with individuals, hand-picking souls from the fire. 1907Westm. Gaz. 12 Sept. 5/1 The most expensive of the ordinary coals—‘large hand-picked coal’. 1918Times 23 Jan. 6/3 True, there has been a widespread feeling that the Irish Convention was handpicked. 1925J. Gregory Bab of Backwoods xii. 157 An able-bodied trio, hand-picked by William Badger. 1928Daily Express 11 July 1/2 A handpicked ‘National’ Assembly for Parliament. 1949I. Deutscher Stalin 353 Its members, though they had all been hand-picked by Stalin..differed on means and methods. 1959Manch. Guardian 1 July 4/5 The director..hand-picks his best students for design jobs in the potteries.
1889C. A. Harris Princ. & Pract. Dentistry (ed. 12) 526 Its use will also keep the *hand-piece in good condition. 1914J. B. Parfitt in N. G. Bennett Sci. & Pract. Dental Surg. 326 Hand-pieces..are often liable to get very much soiled. 1949F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream 115 The whirring of the hand-pieces. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 463/3 Thorough scrubbing of the shearing board with disinfectant and the cleansing of handpieces are also worthwhile practices. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 23 Feb. 67/2 Entrants for the final at the Royal Show..will be judged using their own handpieces. 1963J. Osborne Dental Mechanics (ed. 5) x. 212 For these purposes..small rotary stones in a handpiece are advisable.
1900H. Lawson Over Sliprails 49 Scraping old splashes of paint off the brass and *hand-plate.
1881Greener Gun 262 Another pin will then be seen in the rear end of the trigger-plate, remove this pin (occasionally this ‘*hand-pin’ is placed in the reverse way).
1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 36 The *Hand plant of Mexico.
1659Torriano, Al-palmo, the play our children call, At span-counter, or at *Hand-point.
1918Nature 15 Aug. 470/2 To *hand-pollinate the flowers of a soft-shelled tree with pollen from a tree of similar character.
1954A. G. L. Hellyer Encycl. Garden Work 130/2 As a result of the *hand-pollination, seed may be formed.
1886R. Tuck Handbk. Biblical Difficulties ii. 324 This *hand-print is made in order to avert the ‘evil eye’. 1894‘Mark Twain’ in Cent. Mag. Feb. 553 The hand-print of one twin is the same as the hand-print of the fellow-twin. 1966New Scientist 3 Mar. 539/2 The use of handprints has spread from the charge room to the clinic. Three paediatricians..have reported..that newborn babies with congenital defects frequently have abnormal palm and fingerprints.
1791J. Hampson Mem. Wesley III. 101 A clergy⁓man is like a *hand-post; if he shew the way, it is not necessary he should walk in it himself.
1830–3Carleton Traits & St., Going to Maynooth (Cent.), Few would rely on the word or oath of any man who had been known to break a *hand-promise.
1535Coverdale Acts vi. 1 Their wyddowes were not loked vpon in the daylie *handreachinge.
1902Daily Chron. 28 Nov. 6/3 S.S.,..*‘hand reader’,..appeared..to answer a charge of pretending to tell fortunes by palmistry.
1867A. R. Craig Bk. of Hand 31 In obedience to the stern dictates of the *hand-reading art. 1960C. Storr Marianne & Mark ii. 29 She asked if I wanted the cards or the crystal or a hand reading.
1765Croker Dict. Arts & Sc., *Hand-Screw, an instrument more usually called a jack. 1819P.O. Lond. Direct. 63 Smith and Hand-screw-maker. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 123 Hand-screws or jacks. This engine is used to cant beams or other weighty timbers: it consists of a box of elm containing cogged iron wheels of increasing powers. The outer one, which moves the rest, is put in motion by a winch.
1598Florio Sommessa, the length of a span or hand-breadth, a *hand shaft so called of our drapers.
1922Collier's 7 Jan. 8/1, I am asked by Collier's to suggest a simple, universal, and almost automatic system of *hand signals for the automobile driver. 1934Amer. Speech IX. 114/2 On the way to business [by car],..those who drive have to make allowances for..hand signals. 1960E. H. Clements Honey for Marshal v. 94 He made the hand-signal impatiently..as the lorry still seemed shackled by its own indecision. 1965Priestley & Wisdom Good Driving vi. 47 The Highway Code..lists the three hand signals.
1585Higins tr. Junius' Nomenclator 172/1 Manica..the *handsleeue: the sleeue of a garment. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2192/4 A Purple Wastcoat, with narrow Gold Lace on the Hand sleeves.
1875W. Carleton Farm Legends (1885) 88 He al'ays could..Make somersets on the mow, *Hand-springs, cart-wheels, an' such. 1895Nation (N.Y.) 19 Dec. 437/3 Children..throwing handsprings and standing on their heads.
1899H. Butterworth How To iv. 15 (heading) *Hand stand. 1909W. Skarstrom Gymnastic Kinesiology 74 But in raising the legs and inverting the body to the ‘Hand stand’ there is at first a considerable bend at the hips and more flexion in the elbows than occurs in ‘Free Front Rest’. 1946‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes vi. 111 When she goes out from thees [sic] plaace [sic] it will not matter any longer that she can do a handstand better than anyone else. 1951Swimming (E.S.S.A.) v. 87 Before attempting handstand dives, you must be able to maintain a steady hand balance..grip the end of the board with the hands,..you can then throw up or press up into the armstand position. 1959Times 17 Feb. 3/2 The little girl with upraised arms about to perform a handstand.
1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. vi. 152 To fighte it oute at *hand stripes.
1690Lond. Gaz. No. 2597/4 If any Brown Paper-maker will Buy either Rags, Ropes or *Hand-stuff of said Company, they may be supplied at the Companies Warehouse. 1799Naval Chron. II. 314 Dealers in..what is called hand stuff and old stores.
1862Rawlinson Anc. Mon. I. 271 The use of the *Hand swipe..is mentioned by Herodotus and even represented upon the sculptures.
c1440Promp. Parv. 225/2 *Hand tablys..pugillaris.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 33 Heave *hand taut.
1825Hone Everyday Bk. 865 *Hand-tennis still continues to be played..it is now called fives.
1794Rigging & Seamanship I. 167 *Hand-tight. A moderate degree of tension on a rope, as to make it straight. 1881Young Every Man his own Mechanic §443. 194 This tongue should fit the groove somewhat tightly indeed in the manner called by joiners ‘hand tight’ meaning so tight that it cannot readily be pulled out with the hand.
1664Husbandm. Practice (N.), Fell *hand-timber from the full to the change.
1598Florio Worlde of Wordes 355/1 Sciugatóio, a *hand-towell, a wiper, a rubbing cloth. 1778in P. Ziegler King William IV (1971) ii. 26, 2 Dozen of Hand Towels. 1972M. Kenyon Shooting of Dan McGrew iv. 32 In the..men's room he was drying his face on a hand-towel.
1897O. G. Jones Rock-Climbing xvii. 268 We each in turn ventured on the *hand-traverse from above... It is so named because the climber hangs by his hands,..and traverses across the face by sheer strength of his arms. 1935D. Pilley Climbing Days i. 17 Above this the ‘hand traverse’ faced us. A crack..offers sloping and not very good holds to the hands..the slab gives a little friction to the knees, but not very much. 1957Collomb Dict. Mountaineering 84 Hand traverse, a horizontal movement across a broad flake of rock, the body being supported entirely on the hands which grip the edge of the flake.
1837Penny Cycl. VII. 28/1 Called the ‘*hand-tree’, in consequence of its stamens being so arranged as to present an appearance somewhat similar to that of a human hand.
1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 104 The millers will say that they had as leave haue corne stricken, as soe *handwaved, and left hollowe in the midst. 1791Statist. Acc. Scotl. II. 533 (Jam.) Measured by hand-waving, i.e. they are stroked by the hand about four inches above the top of the firlot.
1683Lond. Gaz. No. 1835/4 One short *Hand-Whip, with a Silver twist about the Handle.
a1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. iv. i, Though I am tame..I may leap, Like a *hand-wolf, into my natural wildness, And do an outrage.
Add:[B.] [III.] [65.] hand–eye, used attrib. to designate co-ordination between voluntary movement of the hand(s) and the visual information received by the eyes from external stimuli, as when an object is touched, hit with a bat, etc.
[1920Psychol. Rev. XXVII. 362 It..would give an immediate quantitative score for the accuracy of the eye–hand coördination.] 1925Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. XX. 142 (heading) The effect of a small audience on *hand–eye co-ordination. 1977P. Leach Baby & Child iii. 167 The child who is good with a ball is one whose hand–eye coordination is well developed.
hand-held a., (a) (formerly at sense 64 b) sufficiently compact or light to be held and operated in one's hand; (b) absol. as n., a hand-held device, esp. a microcomputer.
1923Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 393/2 The *hand-held camera implies ‘exposures’ of brief duration. 1969Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 10 Jan. 18 (caption) The photograph was taken by astronaut Anders with hand-held Hasselblad. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 584/1 All four motors are controlled from a single hand-held push-button control unit. 1975Sci. Amer. Oct. 62/2 (Advt.), Both hand-helds come complete with battery pack and recharger, soft vinyl carrying pouch, and comprehensive owner's handbook. 1986What Micro? Nov. 107/1 Laptop micros, or hand-helds as they are sometimes called.
hand horn (Mus.), a valveless or natural horn (see natural a. 2 c), so called because of the method of inserting a hand into the bell to modify tone or pitch.
1879W. H. Stone in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 749/1 When the Horn was originally transferred..from the hunting field to the orchestra, it was suggested to introduce a mute or damper..for..softening the tone... Hampl..employed his hand instead of the pad... The notes thus modified have since been termed ‘hand notes’, and the instrument itself the ‘*Hand horn’. 1961A. C. Baines Mus. Instruments xii. 300 The deficiencies of the hand horn were to be made good in Germany about 1815 by the invention of the valve. 1976Gramophone Apr. 1617/1 Baumann is a great expert on the hand-horn; here he allows himself the luxury of a modern instrument to demonstrate that he is also a great expert on the valve-horn.
handpass (Austral. Nat. Football) = *hand-ball n. 5; hence handpass v. intr., to pass the ball in this way; handpassing vbl. n.
1931J. F. McHale et al. Austral. Game of Football 56 *Handpass, the ball may be held in one hand and hit with the open palm of the other hand, not necessarily with the clenched fist. 1960Northern Territory News (Darwin) 5 Jan. 8/5 Cooper snapped a neat handpass to Potts. Ibid. 8/6 Sparks marked well within kicking distance but foolishly handpassed to Lew Fatt. 1963Footy Fan (Melbourne) I. xiii. 13 Hand passing is now divided into two categories—the conventional and the modern. 1973J. Dunn How to play Football 41 The handpass, therefore, is tremendously important in football, and almost as important as the kick itself.
hand-stamp, (a) a small engraved block or rubber stamp for impressing a mark by hand, esp. on a postage stamp; (b) the impression made by such a block, spec. as a postal marking.
1852P. Cunningham in Househ. Words 23 Oct. 140/2 The messenger, with a *hand-stamp, stamped every letter..with an oval-shaped stamp. 1891T. O'C. Sloane (title) Rubber hand stamps and the manipulation of rubber. 1970Daily Tel. 16 May 9/7 Since the introduction of Penny Postage in 1840 there has been a charge of double rate for unpaid letters. This was denoted by locally carved 2d handstamps, which were struck in black. 1987Stamps Feb. 17/4 There will also be pictorial first day of issue handstamps available, one from the British Philatelic Bureau, Edinburgh and one from Richmond, Surrey.
▸ Uses of the nautical sense of all hands (see sense B. 8b) in figurative and allusive phrases, as all hands on deck, all hands to the pumps (also pump), indicating (the need for) intense or urgent activity or effort by a large number of people, or by all the people who are available, esp. in an emergency.
1919Hispania 2 40 The year ahead is rich with opportunity. All hands on deck! Labor there is in plenty. 1920Times 22 June 16/4 The House occupied most of its time to-day in discussing the Rent Restriction Bill, with which by midnight it had made excellent progress... To-night it was ‘all hands to the pumps’. 1969A. Bennett Forty Years On in Forty Years On & Other Plays (1991) i. 32 I've got to minister to one of my small charges who's been sick... I'll just assess the damage and be back in a jiff. All hands to the pumps! 1996Caterer & Hotelkeeper 21 Nov. 64/1 Go home for Christmas and enjoy it... But when you come back after Boxing Day, it will be all hands on deck. 2003Press Gaz. 19 Dec. 6/1 It was all hands to the pump. The announcement came at one o'clock, so we cleared the front page, got the quotes and started over with the news pages.
▸ fig.in (also into) safe hands: in (or into) the charge or care of a reliable and trustworthy person or persons; securely protected by a dependable party.
1678S. Butler Hudibras iii. i. 87 For where are all your Forfeitures, Intrusted in safe hands but ours? 1719D. Defoe Robinson Crusoe I. 340 My Interest in the Brasils seem'd to summon me thither, but now I could not tell, how to think of going thither, 'till I had steeled my affairs, and left my Effects in some safe Hands behind me. 1749H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. x. 189 As we have now brought Sophia into safe Hands, the Reader will, I apprehend, be content to deposite her there a while. a1817J. Austen Persuasion (1818) III. iii. 41 Your interest, Sir Walter, is in pretty safe hands. 1849P. H. Myers Young Patroon vii. 81, I find that I have a few thousand pounds more than I require, which I should like to put into safe hands for investment. 1877Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 448/2 Brigadier is..one of the most valuable acquisitions made by the Kentucky breeders for a great while. He could be in no safer hands than Mr. Swigert's. 1915A. Conan Doyle Lost World vii. 99 You are in safe hands. you will not now fail to reach your destination. 1949Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 43 343 It is evident that the great tradition of French learning in the field of international juridical studies..is still in safe hands. 1992N. Bhattacharya Hem & Football xii. 175 You are a godsend, Hem,..now our pots and pans will be in safe hands. Those reckless jhees from outside wear out our utensils too soon. 2001Evening Times (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 2 Apr. Manager Sandy Clark feels the future of St Johnstone is in safe hands after his young stars proved their worth with a 2-0 victory over Hibs.
▸ orig. and chiefly Brit. a safe pair of hands. a. Sport (orig. Cricket). Skill and reliability in catching a ball or (in Association Football, of a goalkeeper) in making saves. Also: a person possessing such reliable dexterity.
1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field x. 185 The safest pair of hands in England. 1933W. J. A. Davies How to play Rugby Football v. 37 A safe pair of hands is of paramount importance. 1981G. Boycott In Fast Lane ix. 74 Botham inexplicably tried to hit Richards over mid-off and lofted the ball to Holding, who has a safe pair of hands and made the catch look easy. 1995New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 14 Mar. 48 Though KL won, some doubts were raised about their Aussie keeper..who wasn't exactly a safe pair of hands last night. 2000Daily Mail (Electronic ed.) 9 Mar. Van der Gouw is..regarded as a safe pair of hands.
b. fig. A person or group considered as capable, reliable, and trustworthy, esp. in politics or business management; (occas. mildly depreciative) a person who is dependable but unwilling to take risks or to be innovative. Also: personal qualities or professional skills which guarantee reliability.
1983Financial Times 21 Mar. 15/7 With a new and untried Governor at the Bank of England, the case for a safe pair of hands at the Fed is very strong indeed. 1990J. Paxman Friends in High Places (BNC) Because of the sensitivity of the subjects under consideration, the highest recommendation in considering who might be suitable to sit on these investigations is the fact that they have a safe pair of hands. Mavericks need not apply. 1996Sunday Star Times (N.Z.) (Electronic ed.) 4 Aug. He does not show off at heavyweight gatherings, and has proved a safe pair of hands with tricky international issues. 2000Independent 25 July ii. 3/6 Even Margaret Beckett with her schoolmistressly ability to defend the Government, has proved to be a safe pair of hands.
▸ hand-job n. slang (orig. U.S.) an act of (usually male) masturbation, esp. performed by one person on another; cf. blow job n. at blow- comb. form Affix 2.
1939P. Di Donato Christ in Concrete ii. vii. 99 If you death-murdered cocks desire not to work then say so and go into the cellar and do the *hand-job! 1969P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 19 If only I could cut down to one hand-job a day. 1984M. Amis Money 29 Towards the end I thought I might even try and wangle a handjob out of her. 2000Witness (Oakland Community College) 14 i. 64 You, a great lover. A master of technique. Them, a massage parlor hand-job.
▸ handspan n. the distance between the tips of the thumb and little finger of a hand spread out to its fullest extent; a unit of a measurement based on this, equal to 9 inches (22.9 cm); also fig.
1905Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 18 Dec. 2/3 (table) *Hand span..9 inches. 1911Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 30 May 4/3 When the President was declared victor it was only by a handspan. 1962D. Stuart Yaralie vi. 71 By..an hour or so before sundown they had it, a rich leader, a handspan wide, shot through with the dull yellow of gold. 1998Amer. Music Teacher Feb. 67/1 A large hand span is required to negotiate the thicker chords. 2006Guardian (Nexis) 24 Apr. If you splay out your thumb and fingers you get the oldest English measurement, the handspan.
▪ II. † hand, n.2
var. ande Obs., breath.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 775 His nese oft droppes, his hand stynkes.
▪ III. hand, v.|hænd|
[f. hand n.1]
1. trans. To touch or grasp with the hand, lay hands on, lay hold of; to work or manage with the hand, manipulate, handle; also fig. to deal with, treat of. Obs. exc. in technical use: see quots.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 25 If you can command these Elements to silence..wee will not hand a rope more. 1611― Wint. T. ii. iii. 63 Let him that makes but trifles of his eyes First hand me. Ibid. iv. iv. 359 When I was yong, And handed loue, as you do. a1721Prior Lady's Looking-glass 29, I hand my oar. 1786J. Wedgwood in Phil. Trans. LXXVI. 397 What we call handing or slapping the clay, an operation by which its different parts are intermixed. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 414/1 Brought up..to full perfection by ‘handing’, i.e. brisk rubbing with the palm of the hand.
2. Naut. To take in, furl (a sail).
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 5 The Sailers..handing in their sailes, and standing on the Deckes..in their wet clothes. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 364/1 With Ten Sailors to hand the Sails. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xiv. (1840) 239 We were glad to hand all our sails. 1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 192 The mizen top-sail was handed to prevent the mast and rigging from falling about their ears. 1881Daily Tel. 28 Jan., ‘They must be handing the maintopsail’, I thought.
3. To lead or conduct by the hand; to assist with the hand in mounting a step, alighting, etc.
a1631Donne (J.), Angels did hand her up, who next God dwell. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 120 The Sultan and Shawbander handed him out of his Bardge. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 15 Our tallest men stood in the deepest place, and handed the sick, weak, and short men. 1764Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 169 Enter Mrs. Sneak, handed by the Major. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 34 He hands her o'er the stile. 1862Trollope Orley F. xiii, He handed her into the carriage.
4. a. To deliver or pass with the hand or hands. (Also with adverbs, as about, in, over.) spec. To deliver or serve (food) at a meal. Also with passive force: to be served, to be delivered. Also with round.
1650Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. vi. (1658) 298 Judas..was so near, that our Saviour could hand the sop unto him. 1692Royal Proclam. 13 Sept. in Lond. Gaz. No. 2802/1 Persons who..shall..hand or bring any such Libel to the Press. 1711Addison Spect. No. 58 ⁋3 There were several Satyrs and Panegyricks handed about. 1726G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 329, I would hand the Hat and his Arms to him. 1802C. Wilmot Let. 3 Jan. (1920) 27 Cakes,..Lemonade, &c., continually handing about the Room. 1803M. Wilmot Let. 13 May in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 13 Soup was handed round. 1816Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 173 You may as well hand me over the money. 1837Dickens Pickw. iv, Come, hand in the eatables. 1844‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. II. 250 The niggers..dodged about, fillin plates and a handin em round. 1851London at Table ii. 44 Don't omit to hand the vegetables and sauces. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 201 Hilary handed the paper to Sir Sampson. 1901F. H. Burnett Making of Marchioness i. iv. 134 ‘I ought to go and help hand cake,’ she said. 1945M. Allingham Coroner's Pidgin i. 11 I'm going to 'and round at the reception. 1964S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian England iv. 183 At smart tables, dishes were now handed by the servants—service à la russe, as it was called.
b. transf. and fig. To deliver, pass, transfer, transmit. Now only with adverbs, as to hand down, i.e. to a later generation or age; to hand on, i.e. to the next in a series or succession; to hand over, i.e. to another's possession, keeping, etc.
1642Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §49 In a vacuity..there wants a body or Medium to hand and transport the visible rays of the object unto the sense. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 401, I would hand this word unto the Merchants of our Land also. 1692E. Walker Epictetus' Mor., In praise of Epictetus, Every word..Your hearers have receiv'd as from an Oracle, And handed down to us. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 176 A Story handed by Tradition. 1865Kingsley Herew. ix, The father handed on the work. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 5 His function of chief speaker is handed over to the Pythagorean philosopher.
c. To give, convey: often with implication of palming-off or imposing. U.S.
1901Merwin & Webster Calumet ‘K’ ii. 21, I told him he ought to give it to somebody else, and he handed me a lot of stuff about my experience. 1908‘O. Henry’ Options (1916) 30 I've had it handed to me in the neck, too. 1925F. Lonsdale Spring Cleaning 11 You ought to have heard the stuff they have handed over to her about you! 1926J. Black You can't Win vi. 75 You'll..maybe get grabbed off a train and handed thirty days at Colorado Springs. 1970Morning Star 17 Feb., The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned sentences for contempt handed down by Judge Julius Hoffman.
d. to hand it to: to acknowledge the superiority of; to congratulate; freq. in phr. you have (got) to hand it to (someone). orig. U.S.
c1906J. F. Kelly Man with Grip 14 You must hand it to the Jap. 1923H. L. Foster Beachcomber in Orient xiv. 377, I do not like John [Chinaman]... But, to use the vernacular, you have to hand it to him. 1923Harper's Mag. Apr. 558 You've got to hand it to that kid... He's stood everything and never squealed a yelp. Some young tough, believe me! 1926G. D. H. & M. Cole Blatchington Tangle xli. 279 ‘I must hand it to you, sir,’ the pseudo-American acknowledged. 1926E. Wallace Ringer i. 11 The Ringer's clever. I hand it to him. 1927‘A. Berkeley’ Mr. Priestley's Problem ii. 30 ‘Guy, I hand it to you,’ Laura was shrieking. 1965Listener 30 Sept. 498/1 You've got to hand it to the Jerries, they know how to make cars. 1973D. Jordan Nile Green xxi. 85, I had to hand it to him: he hadn't missed a trick.
5. To join the hands of. rare.
1643–1881 [see handed 3].
†6. intr. To go hand in hand, concur. Obs.
1624Massinger Renegado iv. i, Let but my power and means hand with my will.
Add:7. hand off. a. trans. Rugby Football. (Formerly at hand-off v. in Dict.) To push off (an opponent) with the hand. Also absol.
1897Encycl. Sport I. 429 Handing-off, pushing off an opponent who endeavours to impede a player running with the ball. 1920Times 8 Nov. 6/2 The wings ran well and were not afraid to ‘hand-off’. 1923W. J. A. Davies Rugby Football 135 Coates..ran with his head half turned to the right..which gave one the impression that he was waiting and was anxious to hand-off some one. 1987Rugby World & Post Mar. 23/2 He handed off Sella and almost did the same with Bérot.
b. intr. Amer. Football. To hand the ball to a nearby player. Cf. *hand-off n. 2.
1955Sports Illustr. 28 Nov. 22/1 On this particular play Holleder fakes handing off to Uebel. 1979Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. c1/1 Ongaga got another second for UTEP against Paul Becklund before handing off to George Mehale. 1988First Down 19 Nov. 4/1 On the next play, the 5-foot-10 quarterback handed off to rookie rusher John Stephens who rolled in for the score with 6:48 left. |