I made a speaking trumpet of myhands 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.
2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, inNew York Time[1]:
Using herhands 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.
2019 July 24, Drachinifel, 11:06 from the start, inAnti-Sub Warfare in WW1 - From Hammers to Hunter-Killers[2], archived fromthe original on24 November 2022:
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 "crushinghand of God" prototype, and, whilst practically just as lethal to submarines, they weresignificantly less risky to the launching ship, and could also be carried in larger numbers.
That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
A limb of certain animals, such as thefoot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
An index orpointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on theface of an analogclock, which are used to indicate thetime of day.
For that the Proteſtants were then on the winninghand, 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 inIreland.
Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
My friend Will Honeycomb has told me, for above this half year, that he had a great mind to try hishand 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 lonehand, and fenced his stuff so that even the Fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
(especially in compounds) Anagent; aservant, or manual laborer; aworkman, trained or competent for special service or duty.
But a Dictionary of this ſort, containing, as it were, a Natural Hiſtory, requires too manyhands, 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 stagehands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.
1903, George Horace Lorimer,Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to his Son, page46:
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 greathand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.
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 nohand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
[…]I have ſometimes known a Poet in Danger of being convicted as a Thief, upon much worſe Evidence than the Reſemblance ofHands hath been held to be in the Law.
'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'shand, do you know?' resumed the lawyer. 'I thought it looked like it,' said the servant rather sulkily; and then, with another voice, 'But what mattershand of write,' he said. 'I've seen him!'
1946 March and April, R. A. H. Weight, “Euston to the North-West”, inRailway Magazine, page69:
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 roundhand.
2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, inThe Daily Telegraph (Review)[3], pageR28:
[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowinghand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
Montague Summers (editor),The Works of Aphra Behn, volume V,page 132:
They once made Mourning and Fasting for the Death of theEnglish Governor, who had given hisHand 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?
1868, William Carleton,Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, volume 2, page179:
Few would rely upon the word or oath of any man who had been known to break ahand-promise.
Personal possession; ownership.
1603,Richard Knolles,The Generall Historie of the Turkes,[…], London:[…] Adam Islip,→OCLC:
in safehands; in goodhands; He lost his job when the factory changedhands.With the business back in the founder'shands, there is new hope for the company.With John in charge of the project, it's in goodhands.
Foraſmuch as many haue taken inhande to ſet foorth in order a declaration of thoſe things which are moſt ſurely beleeued among vs[…]
a.1627 (date written),Francis Bacon, “[Baconiana Politico-Moralia.[…].] 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, thoſeRemains of his, which to that end, were put into myHands.”, in [Thomas Tenison], editor,Baconiana. Or Certain Genuine Remains of Sr. Francis Bacon,[…], London:[…] J. D. for Richard Chiswell,[…], published1679,→OCLC,page21:
ButAlbinus in thoſe troubleſome times enſuing under the ſhort reign ofPertinax andDidius Julianus, found means to keep in hishands the Government ofBritain;
1951 March, J. H. Lehmann, A. D. Johnson, W. C. Bridges, J. Michel, D. M. Green, “Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart Disease”, inNorthwest Medicine, volume50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association,page170:
The method, in thehands 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.
“Give him ahand, Pendennis; you know every chap likes ahand,” 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.
1980 December 13, David Lamble, “March Against Violence Emphasizes Coalitions”, inGay Community News, volume 8, number21, page 6:
A member of the gay male nuns' collective, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, received one of the biggesthands 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 bighand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed "too entertaining" for Academy voters.
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 thehand in carrying on the War: and many, who thought the Earl ofEſſex behaved himſelf too imperiouſly, were willing to have the Command in one who was more their equal.
(archaic) Agency in transmission from one person to another.
to buy at firsthand (from the producer, or when new); to buy at secondhand (when no longer in the producer’s hand, or when not new);It's not a rumor. I heard it at firsthand.
Hand is used figuratively for a large variety of acts or things, in the doing, or making, or use of which the hand is in some way employed or concerned; also, as a symbol to denote various qualities or conditions, as,
(a) Activity; operation; work; — in distinction from thehead, which implies thought, and theheart, which implies affection.
Hishand will be against every man. —Genesis 16:12
(b) Power; might; supremacy; — often in the Scriptures.
With a mightyhand . . . will I rule over you. —Ezekiel 20:33.
(c) Fraternal feeling; for exampleto give, or take, thehand; to give the righthand
(d) Contract; — commonly of marriage; for exampleto ask thehand; to pledge thehand
It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight byhanding a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
2023 March 8, Paul Salveson, “Fond farewells to two final trains...”, inRAIL, number978, page54:
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 wouldhand Mr Ainsworth his morning paper!
(transitive) To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
1814, John Hamilton Moore, “Examination of a Young Sea Officer”, inThe new practical navigator, nineteenth edition:
send the people up tohand the sail, and when up, before they goon the yard, I'll clap the rolling tackle on to steady it
1834 [1756 November 4],Benjamin Franklin, “Observations in answer to the foregoing.”, inMemoirs of Benjamin Franklin[5], volume II,Philadelphia: McCarty & Davis,→OCLC,page344, column 1:
In the very long run from the west side of America to Guam, among the Philippine Islands, ships seldom have occasion tohand 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.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Oft him ānhaga · āre gebīdeð, Metudes miltse, · þēah þe hē mōdċeariġ ġeond lagulāde · longe sċeolde hrēran midhondum · hrīmċealde sǣ, wadan wræclāstas. · Wyrd bið ful ārǣd.
A loner oft waits a grace for himself, Creator's mercy, even if he is sorrowful, through a sea-way he should for long stir the frost-cold sea withhands, travel paths of exile. Fate is well stalwart.
Dansa med oss. Klappa erahänder. Gör som vi gör och ta några steg åt vänster. Lyssna och lär. Missa inte chansen. Nu är vi här med Caramelldansen.
Dance with us. Clap yourhands. Do as we do and take a few steps to the left. Listen and learn. Don't miss the chance. Now we are here with the Caramell dance.
