Many hands make light work


Large tasks become small when divided among several people.

Words Nearby Many hands make light work

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use Many hands make light work in a sentence

  • The adage that Many hands make light work was never better exemplified than on that July day in the berry pasture.

    Peggy Raymond's Vacation | Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) Smith
  • If a housekeeper can secure the cooperation of all her family, she will find, that "Many hands make light work."

    A Treatise on Domestic Economy | Catherine Esther Beecher
  • The others got the mending almost done, for Many hands make light work.

    Winona of the Camp Fire | Margaret Widdemer
  • Everybody was willing, and Many hands make light work, so the tents and all other things came ashore at a lively rate.

  • Have been on detail for five days in rotation, but it is not hard work that we have to do, and Many hands make light work.

    An Artilleryman's Diary | Jenkin Lloyd Jones

Other Idioms and Phrases with Many hands make light work

Many hands make light work

More helpers make a task easier, as in We need a few more volunteers to move the furniture—many hands make light work, you know. This proverb was first recorded in English in the early 1300s in a knightly romance known as Sir Bevis of Hampton. It appeared in practically all proverb collections from 1546 on. For the converse, see too many cooks spoil the broth.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.