Antonyms for hands out


Grammar : Verb
Spell : hand
Phonetic Transcription : hænd


Definition of hands out

Origin :
  • Old English hond, hand "hand; side; power, control, possession," from Proto-Germanic *khanduz (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch, German hand, Old Norse hönd, Gothic handus). The original Old English plural handa was superseded in Middle English by handen, later hands.
  • Meaning "person who does something with his hands" is from 1580s, hence "hired workman" (1630s) and "sailor in a ship's crew" (1660s). Clock and watch sense is from 1570s. Meaning "round of applause" is from 1838. The linear measure of 4 inches (originally 3) is from 1560s, now used only in giving the height of horses. The meaning "playing cards held in one player's hand" is from 1620s; that of "a round at a card game" is from 1620s.
  • First hand, second hand, etc. (mid-15c.) are from the notion of something being passed down from hand to hand. Out of hand (1590s) is opposite of in hand "under control" (c.1200). Hand over fist (1825) is suggestive of sailors and fishermen hauling in nets. Hand jive is from 1958. To win something hands down (1855) is from horse racing, from a jockey's gesture of letting the reins go loose in an easy victory.
  • The Two Thousand Guinea Stakes was not the best contested one that it has been our fortune to assist at. ... [T]hey were won by Meteor, with Scott for his rider; who went by the post with his hands down, the easiest of all easy half-lengths. Wiseacre certainly did the best in his power to spoil his position, and Misdeal was at one time a little vexatious. ["The Sportsman," report from April 26, 1840]
  • To hand it to (someone) "acknowledge someone's ability" is slang from c.1906. Phrase on the one hand ... on the other hand is recorded from 1630s, a figurative use of the physical sense of hand in reference to position on one side or the other side of the body (as in the lefthand side), which goes back to Old English Hands up! as a command from a policeman, robber, etc., is from 1873. Hand-to-mouth is from c.1500. Hand-in-hand attested from c.1500 as "with hands clasped;" figurative sense of "concurrently" recorded from 1570s.
  • verb give to others
Example sentences :
  • She got her hands out of his and lifted them to draw his face again to hers.
  • Extract from : « The Prisoner » by Alice Brown
  • My object in standing up was to have my hands out of the line of his vision.
  • Extract from : « Telepathy » by W. W. Baggally
  • Sarah laughed, as she spread her hands out before her and surveyed them.
  • Extract from : « Sarah's School Friend » by May Baldwin
  • But I managed to throw my head back and my hands out to show they were empty.
  • Extract from : « The Blue Wall » by Richard Washburn Child
  • And stretching his hands out he moved forward to arrest that sound.
  • Extract from : « The Patrician » by John Galsworthy
  • But Hal had sense enough to keep his own hands out of the affair.
  • Extract from : « Uncle Sam's Boys as Sergeants » by H. Irving Hancock
  • Turn around and face the rock, and hold your hands out behind you!
  • Extract from : « The Free Range » by Francis William Sullivan
  • She held her hands out, though, and convinced herself that it was true.
  • Extract from : « Southern Stories » by Various
  • "Didn't really expect to find anything, but—" He flipped his hands out.
  • Extract from : « Indirection » by Everett B. Cole
  • Course, it's an odd line he hands out, the kind that keeps you guessin'.
  • Extract from : « Shorty McCabe on the Job » by Sewell Ford

Synonyms for hands out

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019