释义 |
hand over hand, advb. phr. (a.) Chiefly Naut.) a. With each hand brought successively over the other, as in climbing up or down a rope, or rapidly hauling at it.
1736Cooke in Phil. Trans. XL. 380 A lusty young Man attempted to go down (hand over hand, as the Workmen call it) by means of a single Rope. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Main avant, the order to pull on a rope hand-over-hand. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iv, Up went Martin, hand over hand. b. fig. With continuous advances; said of a vessel, etc. approaching or giving chase to another.
1830Marryat King's Own xiii, The frigate was within a mile of the lugger, and coming up with him hand over hand. 1890Besant Armorel of Lyonesse I. 38 The second boat..came up hand over hand, rapidly overtaking the first boat. c. attrib. or adj. (with hyphens). hand-over-hand stroke, a style of swimming in which each arm is alternately brought out of the water from behind and with a circular sweep returned to the water in front. Also as adv. phr.
1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports 516/2 The Hand-over-Hand style is a very rapid mode of swimming. 1859M. Thomson Cawnpore 86 (Hoppe) With mere hand-over-hand labour it was wearisome work. 1872H. Gurr Art of Swimming 25 To Swim Hand-over-hand. 1884Leisure Hour June 343/1 A final hand-over-hand climb. 1904R. Thomas Swimming 139 The hand-over-hand is the most ancient stroke, at all events that is recorded. Hence ˌhand-over-ˈhander.
1924R. Clements Gipsy of Horn vi. 104 Sending the royal yards aloft to a rattling hand-over-hander. |