In close combat; also, at close quarters. For example, If the enemy came any closer they would soon be fighting hand to hand . This expression, dating from about 1400, is usually restricted to military contexts but occasionally sees more general use.
In close combat; also, at close quarters. For example, If the enemy came any closer they would soon be fighting hand to hand . This expression, dating from about 1400, is usually restricted to military contexts but occasionally sees more general use.
from hand to hand . From one person to another; through a succession of persons. For example, The instructions were passed from hand to hand until everyone had seen them , or Over the generations the family albums went from hand to hand . [Mid-1500s]
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“There’s been hand-to-hand combat around AI,” Murphy said, noting that most hyperscalers still put up robust earnings and have high credit ratings and low leverage.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
On-screen footage shows UFC fighter Michael Chandler explaining to an FBI agent how to neutralize an armed assailant with hand-to-hand combat.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
“It’s going to be a lot of hand-to-hand combat with the competition.”
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
From time to time I’ll make an exception and settle into a relative page-turner: nothing with cliffhangers or lots of hand-to-hand combat, mind you, but with a brisker narrative pace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
No matter how sharp my intuition is, no matter how well I do at Drake or how perfectly I score in defense and target practice and hand-to-hand combat, Metias’s eyes always hold that fear.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
A group of volunteers passes buckets of rubble from hand to hand in long lines.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Radio Free Europe transmitted programs; samizdat passed typed manuscripts hand to hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
They live in grocery store aisles and family kitchens, in care packages and childhood memory — passed hand to hand, season to season, exactly where they belong.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
Carried hand to hand from one person to another, poured from vessel to vessel, the ingredients’ essence is maintained and protected, avoiding the contamination and abstraction of the super-processed supermarket product.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2025
They gather these pieces in peach baskets that they pass from hand to hand, not minding their torn gloves, torn skin.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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.
