hand

Noun

1. The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
   • Her hands are really strong.
   • I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!”...
   • Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic. - 2012 December 26,...

   Meronyms: index finger middle finger palm pinky ring finger thumb

2. That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.

   1. A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.

   2. An index or pointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on the face of an analog clock, which are used to indicate the time of day.

      • I hear the clock a'ticking on the mantel shelf / See the hands a'moving, but I'm by myself - 1968, Ringo Starr, “Don't Pass Me By”, performed by The Beatles:
3. That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.

   1. (card games) The set of cards held by a player.

   2. (card games) The set of cards held by a player.

      A round of a card game.

   3. (tobacco manufacturing) A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.

   4. (collective) A bunch of bananas, a typical retail amount, where individual fruits are fingers.

4. In linear measurement:
   • Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together. - 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric...

   1. (chiefly in measuring the height of horses) Four inches, a hand's breadth.

   2. (obsolete) Three inches.

5. A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
   • […]on this hand and that hand were hangings[…] - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 38:15, column 1:
   • For that the Proteſtants were then on the winning hand, it muſt needs be plain; who notwithſtanding the miſs of thoſe Forces which, at thir landing heer, maiſter’d without difficulty great part of Wales and Cheſhire,...
6. Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
   • My friend Will Honeycomb has told me, for above this half year, that he had a great mind to try his hand at a Spectator, and that he would fain have one of his writing in my works. - 1712 October 12 (Gregorian...
   • The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the Fence couldn't swear he knew his face....
7. An agent; a servant, or manual laborer; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty.
   • Large farms need many farm hands.
   • But a Dictionary of this ſort, containing, as it were, a Natural Hiſtory, requires too many hands, as well as too much time, coſt, pains, and ſagacity, ever to be hoped for; and till that be done, we muſt content our...
   • For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks. -...
8. A performer more or less skilful.
   • an old hand at public speaking
   • I was always reckoned a lively hand at a simile. - 1811, William Hazlitt, “A Day by the Fire”, in The Reflector:
   • At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them. - 1903, George...
9. An instance of helping.
   • Bob gave Alice a hand to move the furniture.
   • What need have you of a hand who never fall? - 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and...
   • The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs....
10. Handwriting; style of penmanship.
    • a good hand
    • I ſay ſhe neuer did inuent this letter, / This is a mans inuention, and his hand. - c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
    • […]I have ſometimes known a Poet in Danger of being convicted as a Thief, upon much worſe Evidence than the Reſemblance of Hands hath been held to be in the Law. - 1749, Henry Fielding, “Containing Instructions Very...
11. A person's autograph or signature.
    • Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie Turke: Bearing his priuie ſignet and his hand, To ſafe conduct vs thorow Affrica: […] - c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First...
    • Given under my Hand and Seal of the State this 1st Day of January, 2010.
12. Promise, word; especially of a betrothal.
    • They once made Mourning and Fasting for the Death of the English Governor, who had given his Hand to come on such a Day to 'em, and neither came nor sent; believing, when a Man's Word was past, nothing but Death could...
    • Few would rely upon the word or oath of any man who had been known to break a hand-promise. - 1868, William Carleton, Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, volume 2, page 179:

Verb

1. To give, pass or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
   • He handed them the letter. She handed me an opportunity.
   • It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits. - 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast...
   • However, Anyon Kay remembers a Mr Walton Ainsworth, of Beech House, Rivington, who owned mills in Bolton, being a regular user before the First World War. He used to drive by horse and trap from his mansion to catch the...
2. To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
   • to hand a lady into a carriage
3. To manage.
   • I bleſs my Chain, I hand my Oar, / Nor think on all I left on Shoar. - 1709, Mat[thew] Prior, “The Lady's Looking-Glass”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 45:
4. To seize; to lay hands on.
   • wee will not hand a rope more - 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
5. To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
6. To furl (a sail).
   • send the people up to hand the sail, and when up, before they goon the yard, I'll clap the rolling tackle on to steady it - 1814, John Hamilton Moore, “Examination of a Young Sea Officer”, in The new practical...
   • In the very long run from the west side of America to Guam, among the Philippine Islands, ships seldom have occasion to hand their sails, so equal and steady is the gale, and yet they make it in about 60 days, which...
7. To cooperate.

Wikipedia

Hand