old hand
Americannoun
noun
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a person who is skilled at something through long experience
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informal (in the 19th century) an ex-convict
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informal a person who is long established in a place
Etymology
Origin of old hand
First recorded in 1775–85
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.
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin is an old hand, having made world headlines back in 2003 by opposing the U.S. war in Iraq in an eloquent U.N. address.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025
Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand is a relative old hand at 20.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
But Kimmel is by now an old hand at a highly specialized gig.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
In the car ride afterward, Bonds — a political old hand, a widowed mother of three and grandmother of six — contemplated trying it out herself.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 2022
Like I am an old hand at this.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
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.
