out of hand
Idioms-
See out of control .
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At once, immediately, as in The second surgeon rejected the doctor's treatment plan out of hand . [1300s]
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.
But each is pushing for leverage, raising fear of an escalatory spiral that gets out of hand, said Saeid Golkar, an expert on Iran’s security services who teaches at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
This correlation has long been the subject of urban myths on Wall Street, and many have dismissed it out of hand.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
At the Colmar banquet, held in a vast hangar-like space on the edge of town, such accusations are dismissed out of hand.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
This is when things start getting a little out of hand.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
In fact, he had very bad judgement when it came to good science, dismissing the work of Copernicus and Gilbert out of hand.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
