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

She is not yours: she is her own: unhand her!

From Post-Prandial Philosophy by Allen, Grant

"But replaced by—by—by—Oh God, Isabel, unhand me!" cried Pierre, starting up.

From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Melville, Herman

I pray you, unhand me, and I will go mine own self to the constable, and entreat him to take me, as his office and duty are.”

From All's Well Alice's Victory by Lewin, M.

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