hands

/ (hændz) /


pl n
  1. power or keeping: your welfare is in his hands

  2. Also called: handling soccer the infringement of touching the ball with any part of the hand or arm

  1. change hands to pass from the possession of one person or group to another

  2. clean hands freedom from guilt

  3. hands down without effort; easily

  4. hands off do not touch or interfere

  5. hands up! raise the hands above the level of the shoulders, an order usually given by an armed robber to a victim, etc

  6. have one's hands full

    • to be completely occupied

    • to be beset with problems

  7. have one's hands tied to be wholly unable to act

  8. in good hands in protective care

  9. join hands See join (def. 12)

  10. lay hands on or lay hands upon

    • to seize or get possession of

    • to beat up; assault

    • to find: I just can't lay my hands on it anywhere

    • Christianity to confirm or ordain by the imposition of hands

  11. off one's hands for which one is no longer responsible

  12. on one's hands

    • for which one is responsible: I've got too much on my hands to help

    • to spare: time on my hands

  13. out of one's hands no longer one's responsibility

  14. throw up one's hands to give up in despair

  15. wash one's hands of to have nothing more to do with

Words Nearby hands

British Dictionary definitions for Hands (2 of 2)

Hands

/ (hænz) /


noun
  1. Terence David, known as Terry. born 1941, British theatre director: chief executive and artistic director (1986–91) of the Royal Shakespeare Company

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use hands in a sentence

  • With a suffocating gasp, she fell back into the chair on which she sat, and covered her face with her hands.

  • She sat straight up in bed, and jerked her hands to her head, and screamed long and terribly.

    The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux
  • He reached forward and took her hands, and if Mrs. Vivian had come in she would have seen him kneeling at her daughter's feet.

    Confidence | Henry James
  • He burst into a loud laugh, clapped his hands, and danced before the delighted babe.

  • Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence.