hand over fist

Idioms  

1. Rapidly, at a tremendous rate, as in He's making money hand over fist. This expression is derived from the nautical hand over hand, describing how a sailor climbed a rope. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hand over fist

So, while the growers were losing money hand over fist, housing developers were coming through with godfather offers to buy them out, convert them to row housing, and sell, sell, sell.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

American consumers and small businesses alike are spitting fire these days about the cost of credit cards, while the companies profiting from them are making money hand over fist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

“Instead of buying hand over fist, China may cool down a little bit,” said Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at OPIS, which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by Dow Jones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026

The previous valuation was taken in 2021, at the height of Covid lockdowns, social distancing and pubs losing money hand over fist.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025

So Buddy put them inside the glass display case, whereupon the locals actually began to pay money for them hand over fist.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols