glad hand
a hearty welcome or enthusiastic reception, especially one that is effusive or hypocritical: Visiting dignitaries were being given the glad hand.
Origin of glad hand
1Words Nearby glad hand
Other definitions for glad-hand (2 of 2)
to greet warmly.
to greet in an insincerely effusive manner.
to greet others with enthusiasm, especially feigned enthusiasm: The candidate spent weeks glad-handing around the state.
Origin of glad-hand
2Other words from glad-hand
- glad-hander, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use glad hand in a sentence
Then I went down to the office with Dad, and saw the boys, who all came round and gave me the glad hand, and wished me luck.
The Whistling Mother | Grace S. RichmondHe raised, he flung up glad hand and commenced to ride in circles, around and around and around.
Desert Dust | Edwin L. SabinYou may be sure Ed meets him at the station—Ed is not working—and he gives him the hello and the glad hand.
Dave Ranney | Dave RanneyAfter the count was over, Flood made a great ado over my guest and gave him the glad hand as if he had been a long-lost brother.
The Outlet | Andy AdamsWhere'd be the sense in them giving the glad hand to the guy who's got it in him to do them out of a nice soft job?
Linda Lee, Incorporated | Louis Joseph Vance
British Dictionary definitions for glad hand
a welcoming hand
a welcome
(tr) to welcome by or as if by offering a hand
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with glad hand
A warm and hearty but often insincere welcome or greeting, as in Politicians are apt to give the glad hand to one and all. [Slang; late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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