hand
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The body part at the end of your arm, used for grasping things
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
handIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhænd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
A limb of certain animals, such as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
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.
A card player in a game of bridge
“We need a 4th hand for bridge.”
A round of a card game.
verb
transitive
To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
Used this way, hand is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- manus , more formal, and heavier in everyday conversation
- mauler , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hand
- “He wanted to try his hand at singing.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Guardianship over.
Having or involving the use of hands.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A lawn mower that is operated by hand.
A mirror intended to be held in the hand.
A small portable drill held and operated by hand.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Small and light enough to be operated while you hold it in your hands.
Made by hand or a hand process.
Something written by hand.
A firearm that is held and fired with one hand.
Grasping and shaking a person's hand (as to acknowledge an introduction or to agree on a contract).
A work produced by hand labor.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.