to hand


Also, at hand. Nearby, accessible, as in I don't have the right tools to hand but asked her to get them for me. [c. 1300]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use to hand in a sentence

  • They held the compound against repeated assaults, and lost several men in hand-to-hand fighting.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Now came a hand-to-hand struggle which looked as if it must end in the death of Smith and perhaps of several of his assailants.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • Men on each side now rushed to board the enemy's ship, and there was a hand-to-hand fight at the bulwarks of the two ships.

  • A bloody hand-to-hand encounter took place under the arch that joined the two towers on either side of the gate.

  • As this night might see rousing hand-to-hand work with rioters the swords might have their place.