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• hands-off
  hands-off

  adjective

  characterized by nonintervention or noninterference.
• hands off
  hands off

  An order to stop touching or interfering with something, as in Hands off the cake, children! This idiom is also put as keep one's hands off, as in She knew she had to keep her hands off so he could learn to tie his shoes by himself. [Mid-1500s]

hands-off

American  

[handz-awf, -of] / ˈhændzˈɔf, -ˈɒf /

adjective

1. characterized by nonintervention or noninterference.

   the new hands-off foreign policy.

2. remote or unfriendly; estranging.

   a truculent, hands-off manner toward strangers.

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hands-off British  

adjective

1. (of a machine, device, etc) without need of manual operation

2. denoting a policy, etc, of deliberate noninvolvement

   a hands-off strategy towards industry

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hands off Idioms  

1. An order to stop touching or interfering with something, as in Hands off the cake, children! This idiom is also put as keep one's hands off, as in She knew she had to keep her hands off so he could learn to tie his shoes by himself. [Mid-1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of hands-off

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hands-off hands off

They have not been treated respectfully; hence the refusal to issue a hands-off order on Kyiv’s airport while the two were in town.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

If you’re ready to wind down the farm and bar, perhaps you could keep the record-holder business if it’s relatively hands-off and continues to provide good income.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

It marks a change of tone for his administration, which has taken a more hands-off approach to the technology.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Burgers are the obvious choice, but smoked meatloaf stuffed with cheese is mostly hands-off and packs a hell of a punch.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, landlords in central and Southern China had an almost completely hands-off relationship with their tenants: they would collect a fixed rent and let farmers go about their business.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Amziah hands off the honey plant to Kateri as McConaughey, the Oscar-winning movie star, hands off the film to newcomer LookingGlass in her very first movie role.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Many are urging the commission to keep its hands off “The View.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Starbucks on Thursday rolled out a bonus and tipping program for its employees, and announced a deal that hands off a big slice of its store business in China to an investment firm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026

Markets reopened as usual on Friday, but traders seemed content to keep their hands off the terminals and enjoy the postholiday haze.

From Barron's ● Dec. 27, 2025

Grandpa Quartermain took his red hands off his knees.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury