hand
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: card-games
engineering
firearms
games
government
military
natural-sciences
nautical
physical-sciences
politics
tools
transport
war
weaponry
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *handuz
Proto-West Germanic *handu
Old English hand
Middle English hond
English hand
From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand, from Proto-West Germanic *handu, from Proto-Germanic *handuz.
See also Dutch and Swedish hand (“hand”), Danish hånd, German Hand, West Frisian hân. Perhaps compare Old Swedish hinna (“to gain”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰-𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (fra-hinþan, “to take captive, capture”); and Latvian sīts (“hunting spear”), Ancient Greek κεντέω (kentéō, “prick”), Albanian çandër (“pitchfork, prop”).
Inflected forms:
form: hands
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: hands
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: handing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: handest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: handedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: hands
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: handeth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: hand
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: handing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: handed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
pos: noun
examples: Her hands are really strong.
I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.
The fruits of these kickstarted endeavors began to show in 1915, first in the deployment of a new range of depth charges. These were, mercifully, smaller than Jellicoe's "crushing hand of God" prototype, and, whilst practically just as lethal to submarines, they were significantly less risky to the launching ship, and could also be carried in larger numbers.
gloss: That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
pos: noun
gloss: That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
pos: noun
examples: I hear the clock a'ticking on the mantel shelf / See the hands a'moving, but I'm by myself
gloss: That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
pos: noun
gloss: That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
pos: noun
gloss: That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
pos: noun
gloss: That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
pos: noun
tags: collective
gloss: In linear measurement:
pos: noun
examples: Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.
gloss: In linear measurement:
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
pos: noun
examples: […]on this hand and that hand were hangings[…]
For that the Proteſtants were then on the winning hand, it muſt needs be plain; who notwithſtanding the miſs of thoſe Forces which, at thir landing heer, maiſter’d without difficulty great part of Wales and Cheſhire, yet made a ſhift to keep thir ownw in Ireland.
gloss: Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
pos: noun
examples: My friend Will Honeycomb has told me, for above this half year, that he had a great mind to try his hand at a Spectator, and that he would fain have one of his writing in my works.
The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the Fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
gloss: An agent; a servant, or manual laborer; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty.
pos: noun
tags: especially
in-compounds
examples: Large farms need many farm hands.
But a Dictionary of this ſort, containing, as it were, a Natural Hiſtory, requires too many hands, as well as too much time, coſt, pains, and ſagacity, ever to be hoped for; and till that be done, we muſt content our ſelves with ſuch Definitions of the Names of Subſtances, as explain the ſenſe Men uſe them in.
For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.
gloss: A performer more or less skilful.
pos: noun
examples: an old hand at public speaking
I was always reckoned a lively hand at a simile.
At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.
gloss: An instance of helping.
pos: noun
examples: Bob gave Alice a hand to move the furniture.
What need have you of a hand who never fall?
The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
gloss: Handwriting; style of penmanship.
pos: noun
examples: a good hand
I ſay ſhe neuer did inuent this letter, / This is a mans inuention, and his hand.
[…]I have ſometimes known a Poet in Danger of being convicted as a Thief, upon much worſe Evidence than the Reſemblance of Hands hath been held to be in the Law.
[…]I found written on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message[…]
'This is a strange note,' said Mr. Utterson; and then sharply, 'How do you come to have it open?' 'The man at Maw's was main angry, sir, and he threw it back to me like so much dirt,' returned Poole. 'This is unquestionably the doctor's hand, do you know?' resumed the lawyer. 'I thought it looked like it,' said the servant rather sulkily; and then, with another voice, 'But what matters hand of write,' he said. 'I've seen him!'
With an unquenchable enthusiasm for locomotives and their work, at an early age I had commenced to keep engine and traffic-recording notebooks, compiled in a schoolboy's round hand.
[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
gloss: A person's autograph or signature.
pos: noun
examples: Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie Turke:
Bearing his priuie ſignet and his hand,
To ſafe conduct vs thorow Affrica: […]
Given under my Hand and Seal of the State this 1st Day of January, 2010.
gloss: Promise, word; especially of a betrothal.
pos: noun
examples: They once made Mourning and Fasting for the Death of the English Governor, who had given his Hand to come on such a Day to 'em, and neither came nor sent; believing, when a Man's Word was past, nothing but Death could or should prevent his keeping it: And when they saw he was not dead, they ask'd him what Name they had for a Man who promis'd a Thing he did not do?
Few would rely upon the word or oath of any man who had been known to break a hand-promise.
gloss: Personal possession; ownership.
pos: noun
examples: Receiving in hand one year’s tribute.
gloss: Management, domain, control.
pos: noun
tags: in-plural
examples: in safe hands
in good hands
With the business back in the founder's hands, there is new hope for the company.
With John in charge of the project, it's in good hands.
Foraſmuch as many haue taken in hande to ſet foorth in order a declaration of thoſe things which are moſt ſurely beleeued among vs[…]
It is my purpoſe to give a true and plain Account, of the Deſigns and Labours of a very great Philoſopher amongſt us; and to offer to the World, in ſome tollerable Method, thoſe Remains of his, which to that end, were put into my Hands.
But Albinus in thoſe troubleſome times enſuing under the ſhort reign of Pertinax and Didius Julianus, found means to keep in his hands the Government of Britain;
The method, in the hands of an experienced team of physicians and technicians, has become a relatively safe and useful procedure in the study of congenital heart disease and an accurate device for calculating cardiac output.
gloss: A hand which is free to assist; especially due to having one's hands full or otherwise fully preoccupied.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
examples: Just give me a minute — I haven't got any hands right now.
gloss: Applause.
pos: noun
examples: Give him a hand.
“Give him a hand, Pendennis; you know every chap likes a hand,” Mr. Foker said; and the good-natured young gentleman, and Pendennis laughing, and the dragoons in the opposite box, began clapping hands to the best of their power.
A member of the gay male nuns' collective, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, received one of the biggest hands of the evening when he included in a benediction litany the chant that lesbians and gays be "delivered from both of Dianne's faces."
Also a big hand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed "too entertaining" for Academy voters.
gloss: A Native American gambling game, involving guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or similar, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand.
pos: noun
tags: historical
gloss: The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.
pos: noun
gloss: A whole rhizome of ginger.
pos: noun
gloss: The feel of a fabric; the impression or quality of the fabric as judged qualitatively by the sense of touch.
pos: noun
examples: This fabric has a smooth, soft hand.
For both the fifth and sixth fabrics, I used tussah noils as weft. The effect that makes in the hand of the fabrics and their apparent weight is striking.
He finds that this double beat helps lock the weft in place and gives the cloth a sturdy, durable hand, perfect for a functional piece such as a runner.
gloss: Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: And Gideon ſaid vnto God, If thou wilt ſaue Iſrael by mine hand,[…]
They who thought they could never be ſecure in any Peace, except the King were firſt at their Mercy, and ſo obliged to accept the conditions they would give him, were willing to change the hand in carrying on the War: and many, who thought the Earl of Eſſex behaved himſelf too imperiouſly, were willing to have the Command in one who was more their equal.
gloss: Agency in transmission from one person to another.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: to buy at first hand (from the producer, or when new)
to buy at second hand (when no longer in the producer’s hand, or when not new)
It's not a rumor. I heard it at first hand.
gloss: Rate; price.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: For Time is the meaſure of Buſineſſe, as Money is of Wares: And Buſineſſe is bought at a deare Hand, where there is ſmall diſpatch.
gloss: To give, pass or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
pos: verb
tags: ditransitive
examples: He handed them the letter. She handed me an opportunity.
It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
However, Anyon Kay remembers a Mr Walton Ainsworth, of Beech House, Rivington, who owned mills in Bolton, being a regular user before the First World War. He used to drive by horse and trap from his mansion to catch the 0906 train to Bolton each day. Before arriving at the station, local newsagent Tom Dutton would hand Mr Ainsworth his morning paper!
gloss: To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to hand a lady into a carriage
gloss: To manage.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: I bleſs my Chain, I hand my Oar, / Nor think on all I left on Shoar.
gloss: To seize; to lay hands on.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: wee will not hand a rope more
gloss: To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
pos: verb
tags: rare
transitive
gloss: To furl (a sail).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: send the people up to hand the sail, and when up, before they goon the yard, I'll clap the rolling tackle on to steady it
In the very long run from the west side of America to Guam, among the Philippine Islands, ships seldom have occasion to hand their sails, so equal and steady is the gale, and yet they make it in about 60 days, which could not be if the wind blew only in the afternoon.
gloss: To cooperate.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
Synonyms: biscuit hooks
hand
mauler
meat hook
Related words: handle
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: handvol
lang: Bulgarian
word: ше́па
roman: šépa
lang: Danish
word: håndfuld
lang: Dutch
word: handvol
lang: Esperanto
word: plenmano
lang: Finnish
word: kourallinen
lang: French
word: poignée
lang: Georgian
word: მუჭა
roman: muč̣a
lang: Georgian
word: მუჭი
roman: muč̣i
lang: German
word: Handvoll
lang: Greek
word: χεριά
roman: cheriá
lang: Hungarian
word: marék
lang: Hungarian
word: marok
lang: Hungarian
word: maréknyi
lang: Hungarian
word: maroknyi
lang: Interlingua
word: manata
lang: Japanese
word: 一握り
roman: hitonigiri
lang: Portuguese
word: mão
lang: Portuguese
word: punhado
lang: Portuguese
word: mão-cheia
lang: Portuguese
word: mãozada
lang: Russian
word: горсть
roman: gorstʹ
lang: Spanish
word: manotada
lang: Spanish
word: puñado
lang: Vietnamese
word: ván (a)
lang: Vietnamese
word: buộc (b)
lang: Afrikaans
word: hand
lang: Bulgarian
word: ръка́
roman: rǎká
lang: Catalan
word: mà
lang: Czech
word: ruka
lang: Danish
word: hånd
lang: Dutch
word: speelhand
lang: Finnish
word: käsi
lang: French
word: main
lang: Galician
word: man
lang: German
word: Hand
lang: German
word: Blatt
lang: Greek
word: χαρτωσιά
roman: chartosiá
lang: Hungarian
word: leosztás
lang: Interlingua
word: mano
lang: Italian
word: mano
lang: Japanese
word: 手札
roman: tefuda
lang: Kabuverdianu
word: mon
lang: Pashto
word: لاس
roman: lās
lang: Iranian Persian
word: دَسْت
roman: dast
lang: Polish
word: ręka
lang: Portuguese
word: mão
lang: Romanian
word: mână
lang: Russian
word: комбина́ция
roman: kombinácija
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: làmh
lang: Spanish
word: mano
lang: Swedish
word: hand
lang: Tamil
word: கை
roman: kai
lang: Vietnamese
word: ván