hand 
To hold one's hand or hands, to stop doing something ; 
refrain from proceeding, especially in a course inimical 
or injurious to another or others. 
They fought until they both did sweat, 
Till he cried, "Pedlar, pray hold your hand." 
Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood (Child's Ballads, V. 260). 
TO hold UP one's hands, to raise one's hands in token of 
submission or non-resistance ; hence, to yield ; give in. 
I yield vnto you this noble victorie, and hold vp my 
handes. Traberon, Answere to a Privie Papiste, sig. B, iii. 
To hold up the hands Of, to aid or encourage the efforts 
of ; sustain ; brace up : from the staying of Moses's hands 
by Aaron and Hur (Kx. xvii. 12). To lay hands on. (a) 
To touch or take with the hand or hands for any purpose ; 
especially, to seize. 
He leyde homle on the horse, and ledde it to Bretell be 
the reyne, that ther-of hadde grete nede. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 158. 
But we finde not that euer he leyde honde on eny man 
for to do harme. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ill. 406. 
If we know him to be a thief, shall we not lay hands on 
him 1 Shak. , Much Ado, 111. 3. 
(b) To bless, heal, ordain, etc., by the imposition of hands. 
To lend a hand, to give aid ; especially, to join in per- 
forming some manual labor. 
Hee is the young Students ioy and expectation, and the 
most accepted guest, to whom they lend a willing hand 
to discharge him of his burthen. 
Bp. Earle, Mlcro-cosmographie, A Carryer. 
We have not to build a new house on a sand patch of 
our own reclaiming, but to lend a hand to the workmen 
upon a public edifice. Mind, XLI. 78. 
To live by one's hands, to live by manual labor; toil 
for bread with one's hands. 
They liv'd by their hands, without any lands. 
Robin Uood and Maid Marian (Child's Ballads, V. 875). 
To make a handt, to profit ; gain an advantage. 
The French king, supposing to make his hand by those 
rude ravages in England, broke off his treaty of peace, and 
proclaimed hostility. Sir J. Haytvard. 
To one's hand, in readiness ; already prepared ; ready to 
be received. 
His Plots were generally modell'd, and his Characters 
ready drawn to hi* hand. 
Congreve, Way of the World, Ded. 
There are yet divers considerable papers and pieces 
which I want, . . . that so I may not be impos'd on by such 
memoires and transactions of state as I find to my hand. 
Evelyn, To Lord Clifford. 
The work is made to his hands. Locke. 
To pour water on the hands, in Scrip., to serve or min- 
ister to. 
One of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, 
Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water mi 
the hands of Elijah. 2 Ki. iii. 11. 
To put forth one's hand against, in Scrip., to use vio- 
lence against ; kill. 
Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver In 
mine hand, yet would I nut put forth mine hand against 
the king's son. 2 Sam. xviii. 12. 
To put one's hand to. (a) In Scrip., to meddle with ; 
hence, to steal. 
Then the master of the house shall be brought unto the 
judges, to see whether he have put his hand unlo his neigh- 
bour's goods. Ex. xxii. 8. 
(b) To assist with ; lend a hand to. 
Mrs. Catherine always putting her hand to the principal 
piece of the dinner. Thackeray, Catherine, ii. 
To put the last or finishing hand to, to complete ; 
perfect ; make the last corrections or give the final polish 
to. To set hand to flstt, to do anything heartily or con- 
tinuously. Davids. 
His landlord did once persuade him to drink his ague 
away ; and thereupon, going to the ale-house an hour or 
two before it was come, they set hand to fist, and drunk 
very desperatly. Life of A. Wood, March 4, 1652. 
To set the hand to, to engage in ; undertake. 
That the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thou settest 
thine hand to. Deut. xxiii. 20. 
TO Shake hands, to clasp the right hand mutually, as a 
greeting or in token of friendship, agreement, or recon- 
ciliation. To show one's hand, to expose one's purpose 
or intention ; make known or betray one's resources, or 
the like : from exposure of a hand at cards to an adver- 
sary. To strike hands, (a) To conclude an agreement; 
engage with another, as in a contract or an enterprise : 
from the customary mutual clasping of hands on such 
occasions : often followed by upon or with : as, to strike 
hands upon a bargain ; to ttnke hands with one's former 
enemies. 
A man void of understanding striketh hands, and be- 
eometh surety in the presence of his friend. 
Prov. xvii. 18. 
(b) To make another's cause one's own ; join interests. 
To take by the hand, to take under one's protection. 
To take In hand, (a) To attempt ; undertake. 
The x" batayll kynft Balam take on hand, 
With iij thowsand knyghtez I vnderstonde. 
Qenerydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2090. 
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in 
order a declaration of those things which are most surely 
believed among us. Luke i. 1. 
(6) To seize or consider and deal with : as, to take one's 
case in hand. To try one's hand, to undertake a thing 
as an experiment ; make a tentative effort, 
I however cannot help wishing that he had tried his 
hand in Parliament. Boswell, Johnson. 
To wash one's hands of, to have nothing more to do 
with ; renounce all connection with or interest in. Un- 
2702 
der one's hand, with the proper writing ur signature 
of the name : chiefly used at the end of a legal instru- 
ment, as a deed or contract : as, done under my hand and 
seal, or our hands and seals. Upon one's hands. See 
on one's hands. Within one's hand, in pianoforte- or 
organ-playing, within the technical or manual skill of the 
player. 
hand (hand), i: [< hand, n. The older verbs 
from the noun hand are hend 1 and handle.} I. 
trans. 1. To give or transmit by means of the 
hand. 
She hands the coffee and butter and honey and biscuit. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 69. 
2. To lead, guide, or help with the hand; con- 
duct: as, to hand a lady to a carriage. 
Angels did hand her up, who next God dwell. Donne. 
3. To manage with the hand or hands; ma- 
nipulate ; handle. 
I bless my chain : I hand my oar. 
Nor think on all I left on shoar. 
Prior, Lady's Looking-Glass. 
4f. To seize; lay hands on. 
Let him that makes but trifles of his eyes 
First hand me ; on my own accord, I'll off. 
Shak., W. T., ii 3. 
5. Naut., to furl, as a sail. 
His men going up upon the main yard to liana in the 
sail, the main tie brake, and the yard falling down shook 
off five men into the sea, 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, IL 180. 
6f. To pledge by the hand ; handf ast. 
If any two be but once handed in the church, and have 
tasted in any sort the nuptial bed. Milton, Divorce. 
To hand down, to transmit from the higher to the lower, 
in space or time. 
You will be handed dmtm to posterity, like Petrarch's 
Laura, or Waller's Sacharissa. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
Il.t intrans. 1. To go hand in hand; coop- 
erate. 
Let but my power and means hand with my will. 
Massinger, Renegado, iv. 1. 
2. Naut., to ship as one of a crew; be or be- 
come a hand before the mast, 
hand-axt, . [< ME. Imndax, hantlaxe."] A bat- 
tle-ax. 
Or any other wepne here, 
Handax, sythe, gisarm or spere. 
Havelok, 1. 2549. 
hand-bag (hand'bag), n. A bag for small arti- 
cles, carried in the hand in traveling or shop- 
ping. 
Small enough to carry in a hand-bag. 
The Engineer, LXV. 235. 
hand-baggage (hand'bag'aj), n. Baggage car- 
ried in the hand. 
The three mariners, who insisted upon carrying all the 
hand-baggage, brought up the rear. 
The Century, XXXV. 622. 
hand-ball (hand'bal), . [< ME. handballe; < 
hand + tall 1 .'] 1. The sport of throwing and 
catching a ball : the common game of ball be- 
fore the use of bats. 
The most ancient amusement of this kind [field-games] 
is distinguished with us by the name of hand-ball, and is, 
if Homer may be accredited, coeval at least with the de- 
struction of Troy. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 158. 
For Bellthus, a Ritualist of those Times tells us, That 
it was customary in some Churches, for the Bishops and 
Arch-Bishops themselves to play with the inferior Clergyi 
even at Hand-ball ; and this also, as Durandus witnesseth, 
even on Easter-Day it self. 
Bourne's Pop. Antig. (1777), p. 250. 
2. A game in which a small ball is batted or 
struck by one of two players with his hand 
against a wall, and, on rebounding, is struck 
in like manner by the other. This continues 
until one player fails to strike and return the 
ball on the fly or first bound. 3. A bulb or 
hollow punctured ball of india-rubber designed 
to be compressed by the hand. 
It is a matter of little importance whether the spray be 
given with a handball spray apparatus or with a small 
steam vaporizer. Medical News, LII. 639. 
hand-barrow (hand'bar'6), n. [< ME. hand- 
barow, handbarwe; < hand + fenmnc 2 .] 1. A 
kind of litter or stretcher, sometimes flat, some- 
times trough-shaped, with handles at each end, 
carried between two persons. 2. In gun., a 
frame used to carry shot and shell. 3. A wheel- 
barrow. 
hand-bell (hand'bel), n. [< ME. (not found), 
< AS. handbelle, < hand + belle, bell.] A small 
bell rung by the hand, as distinguished from 
one rung by some mechanical means, as a bell- 
rope. 
He has designed a few playful subjects ; among them a 
hand-bell which has been a great favorite, as it is both 
useful and pretty. Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 283. 
hand-cloth 
hand-bill (hand'bil), n. [< hand + tilft.'] 1. 
An instrument for pruning trees. 2. A chop- 
ping-implement ; a bill-hook. 
handbill (hand'bil), M. [< fcmd + WB.] A bill 
or loose printed paper or sheet circulated for 
the purpose of making some public announce- 
ment. 
handbinderst, l>l- Fetters. A'aren. 
Manicls, or handbindert. .\i>mfnclator. 
handbook (hand'buk), n. [Recent (and not < 
AS. hand-hoc, a manual, service-book), in imi- 
tation of G. liandbuch = D. handbock = Dan. 
haandbog = Sw. handbok.'] ^ small book pi- 
treatise, properly such as may easily be held in 
the hand; specifically, a manual or compen- 
dium, or a guide-book for travelers: as, hand- 
books of science ; a handbook of Italy. 
The famous treatise " De Regimlne Principum " ; a book 
which, owing to the great reputation of its author, and 
the deflniteness of the principles which it enunciates, be- 
came a handbook of the relations of Church and State in 
the middle ages. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. ITS. 
hand-borrow (hand'bor'6), . In law, a sure- 
ty; a manual pledge ; one of the frank-pledges 
inferior to the head-borough. Cowel. 
hand-bow (hand'bo), n. A bow held in the 
hand ; a longbow, as distinguished from a cross- 
bow. See cut under bowman. 
Their souldiers also must be furnished with strong hand- 
bowea & cros-bowes. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 62. 
hand-brace (hand'bras), n. See brace 1 , n., 14. 
handbreadth (hand'bredth), n. A space equal 
to the breadth of the hand; a palm: a unit of 
length in many metrical systems; especially, 
in books of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies, one fourth of a philosophical foot, equal 
to about 2.45 English inches. Also called 
hand's-brcadth. 
And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth 
round about Ex. xxv. 25. 
The Eastern people determined their hand-breadth by 
the breadth of barleycorns, six making a digit, and twen- 
ty-four a hand's breadth. Arbuthnot. 
handbredet, _ [ME. handebrede, handibreede, 
< AS. handbraid (= OFries. handbrede, hond- 
brede = D. handbrecdte = Dan. haandbred ;_cf. 
G. adj. handbreit), < hand, hand, + briedu, 
breadth: see bread 2 , .] A handbreadth. 
Of goth the sky 1 1 an handebrede aboute. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, L 623. 
hand-bridge (hand'brij), . A small bridge 
with a hand-rail. 
A little rude handbridge led over the hurrying, chatter- 
ing stream. R. Broughton, Cometh up as a Flower, vL 
hand-buckler (hand'buk"ler), n. Asmallshield 
held in the left hand to parry blows or thrusts 
of an adversary's sword, in use especially dur- 
ing the second half of the sixteenth century. 
These bucklers were sometimes of irregular shape, trape- 
zoidal or the like, but commonly round ; they were fre- 
quently of a diameter not exceeding nine inches. Com- 
pare rondache and glove-shield. 
hand-cannon (hand'kan"on), . 1. A portable 
firearm of the 
earliest pattern, 
having the bar- 
rel mounted on 
a straight stock, 
which was held 
under the arm or 
pressed against 
the breast. The 
piece was fired 
by a match. 
2f. A musket. 
Hall. 
hand-car (hand'- 
kar), n. A light 
portable car 
used on rail- 
roads in the inspection and repair of the tracks. 
It has four wheels (sometimes, for special uses, three, two 
running on one rail and the third on the other), and is 
propelled by means of cranks or levers geared to the 
wheels and worked by hand or by treadles. 
hand-cart (hand'kiirt), n. A cart drawn or 
pushed by hand. 
hand-claw (hand'kla), n. A clawed instrument 
used by hand in gathering clams, scallops, etc. 
[New Eng. coast.] 
hand-clotht (hand'kloth), . [< ME. handcloth, 
< AS. handcldth (= Icel. handldn'thi = Dan. 
Jtaandklwde), a towel, < hand, hand, + cldth, 
cloth.] A hand-towel ; a handkerchief. 
Hire handclothes and hire bord clothes make wite and 
lustliche on to siene [see]. 
Old Eng. Homilies (ed. Morris), II. 163. 
Hand-cannon, 
( From Viollet-le-Duc's 
francais.") 
of i5th century. 
1 Diet, du Mobilier 
