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• Many hands make light work
  Many hands make light work

  Large tasks become small when divided among several people.
• 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.

Many hands make light work

Cultural  

1. Large tasks become small when divided among several people.

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many hands make light work Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

At home, they’re often made over the holidays, as many hands make light work.

From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2021

I’ve learned that I always create a club or a family around me, because I understand so well the precept that many hands make light work.

From The Guardian • Feb. 2, 2017

On assembly lines and at construction sites, in offices and around operating tables, many hands make light work.

From Time Magazine Archive

Only Lois and I were left to help Marjorie, and, on the principle that many hands make light work, we distributed ourselves about the house under the direction of the elder Downing sisters.

From Holiday Stories for Young People by Sangster, Margaret Elizabeth

The others got the mending almost done, for many hands make light work.

From Winona of the Camp Fire by Widdemer, Margaret