unhand

American

[uhn-hand] / ʌnˈhænd /

verb (used with object)

to take the hand or hands from; release from a grasp; let go.

Unhand me, you wretched coward!

unhand British

/ ʌnˈhænd /

verb

archaic (tr) to release from the grasp

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of unhand

First recorded in 1595–1605; un- ² + hand

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.

They stage a melodrama in the lobby in which the business of "unhand that woman" and "the viper beats my mother" is used with proper gusto.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Dog, unhand our royal charger. We are the Empress Jadis.”

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

His attendants laid hands on me, but he revived and bade them unhand me and bring me courteously to the palace.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume IV by Payne, John

"Were ye told to unhand him, dolts?" he shouted.

From A Lad of Grit A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

The New Woman will scarcely feel the seat of power warm beneath her before giving to the assassin's "unhand me, villain!" the authority of law.

From A Cynic Looks at Life by Haldeman-Julius, E. (Emanuel)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023