hands-on
Americanadjective
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characterized by or involved in active personal participation in an activity; individual and direct.
a workshop to give children hands-on experience with computers.
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requiring manual operation, control, adjustment, or the like; not automatic or computerized.
the old hands-on telephone switchboards.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hands-on
First recorded in 1905–10; by analogy with hands-off
Explanation
Something that's hands-on requires direct interaction or participation. If you have hands-on coffee shop experience, it means you've actually made lattes and served scones with your own two hands. When you take a hands-on sewing class, you'll actually cut and pin and sew fabric, and if a high school principal has a hands-on role, she might teach a class each semester. If it's a hands-on chemistry class, students will have the opportunity to mix chemicals and do experiments. Hands-on is a relatively new adjective, coined around 1969.
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.
Scott-Wright and Clegg also work as self-described "maternity nurses" - a role involving hands-on work with infants that is also unregulated.
From BBC • May 5, 2026
The V&A opened an eastern beachhead in 2025 with V&A East Storehouse, a dense, hands-on jumble of imperial treasure and modern design that opens the institution’s collections to visitors.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
"You can feed and watch them, but if you want something hands-on, they're not the right choice," she added.
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026
Artificial intelligence used for real-world, hands-on tasks -- so-called physical AI -- was in focus this year in Hanover at the world's biggest industrial technology fair, which brings together more than 3,000 exhibitors.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
I’d managed to connect with a group of professional women and form a kind of chatty, hands-on social cluster.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
