- a variation of eldest hand.
elder hand
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of elder hand
First recorded in 1580–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The players, beginning with the elder hand, make their stakes, raise, &c., as at the ordinary game, till either all but one have passed out, or some player decides to "see" his adversaries.
From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis
If this should carry them both "out," the elder hand is the winner.
From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis
She was clinging to a perpendicular stem of elder, hand over hand, wren fashion, her long neck thrust straight into the air, absolutely stiff and statuesque.
From Roof and Meadow by Sharp, Dallas Lore
When you are elder hand, and the score stands four for you, and one for your opponents, do not fail to order up the trump, to prevent either of them from going alone.
From Hoyle's Games Modernized by Hoffmann, Louis
First Play.—The elder hand, the player on the left of the dealer, plays first.
From Enquire Within Upon Everything The Great Victorian Domestic Standby by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
