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.
The joke got out of hand once the neighbors arrived.
From Literature
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“The videos he saw showed a snowball fight that got out of hand. He does not believe this situation rises to the level of criminal charges.”
Mamdani on Wednesday said again that what he saw "was a snowball fight", acknowledging that it "got out of hand, but that's what it was".
From BBC
"These videos are making people think this is real life. It's becoming out of hand now," he said.
From BBC
The party got out of hand, and the company, its employees, my family and I all paid dearly.
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.