with (one's) bare hands

with (one's) bare hands

Using only one's hands. The term typically means without tools, etc., but can also mean without the machinery that would normally be expected to be used in the task being discussed. We had no shovel so we dug the hole with our bare hands. Can you believe she sanded all that wood with her bare hands, using only sandpaper?See also: bare, hand

bare hands, with one's

With one's hands but without tools, weapons, or other implements. For example, Jean assembled the new stove with her bare hands. This phrase, first recorded in 1604, extends the literal meaning, "with uncovered (that is, without gloves) and hence unprotected hands," to "unaided by implements." See also: bare

with your bare hands

COMMON If you do something with your bare hands, you do it without using any weapons or tools. If I thought you'd hurt him, I'd kill you now with my bare hands. Rescue workers and residents were digging through tonnes of mud with their bare hands yesterday in search of survivors. Note: You can also say that someone does something bare-handed. A man has wrestled a two-metre crocodile bare-handed in a north Queensland river to save his pet dog from its jaws. Note: This expression is used to emphasize that the thing done is difficult or dangerous. See also: bare, hand

with your bare ˈhands

with your hands only, without any tools or weapons: He said he’d killed a crocodile with his bare hands!See also: bare, hand