Hey there, idiom fans! Ready to roll up your sleeves (1) and jump into some hands-on (2) learning? Today, we’re exploring a lively collection of common idioms all about hands. And don’t just sit back—there are plenty of practice exercises waiting for you. So dive in, learn, practice, and use the idioms so they don’t slip through your fingers (3)!

Idioms From the Intro

1. Roll up your sleeves = prepare for hard work
2. hands-on – relating to or providing experience of something (e.g. learning, training, approach, practice, experience)
3. to slip through one’s fingers – (of something valuable and desirable) to pass without being taken advantage of

Hands

Needless to say, there are lots of commonly used idioms related to hands. However, since this blog is primarily aimed at upper-intermediate and advanced students, we’d like to focus on slightly less common expressions that are still well worth remembering for their flair, expressiveness, and usefulness.

Idiom	Meaning	Examples
to have (got) your hands full	to be very busy	1) I’d love to help, but I’ve got my hands full with the new project. 2) Jane has her hands full balancing work and two young children
to take matters into your own hands	to act independently to solve a problem	If no one fixes the issue, I’ll take matters into my own hands.
to have a free hand	to have complete freedom to act	1) The director gave her a free hand in designing the campaign. 2) He was given a free hand to restructure the department.
to force one’s hand	to make someone act sooner than they wanted	1) I didn’t want to resign yet, but their ultimatum forced my hand. 2) The leak to the press forced the government’s hand.
to wash your hands of sth.	to refuse responsibility for sth.	1) Don’t wash your hands of the problem—you’re partly responsible. 2) After months of conflict, Jake washed his hands of the entire project.
in hand	1) under control 2) in progress, being dealt with (formal)	1) The situation is now in hand, so there’s no need to worry. (meaning 1) 2) Your request is in hand and will be processed within 24 hours. (meaning 2)
to have the upper hand in sth.	to be in a stronger or more advantageous position	The company seems to have the upper hand in the market right now.
to try one’s hand at sth.	to attempt something new	I’ve never painted before, but I’d like to try my hand at it.
to know something like the back of your hand	to know something extremely well	I know this city like the back of my hand.
to have a hand in sth.	to be involved in something (often secretly)	1) Sarah had a hand in organizing the surprise party. 2) The manager had a hand in drafting the new policy.
to live from hand to mouth	to have just enough money to survive	After losing his job, he was living from hand to mouth for months.
to fall into one’s hands	to come under someone’s control (often negative)	1) The documents fell into the wrong hands. 2) The secret plan fell into their hands by accident.
with a heavy hand	in a strict, harsh, or excessive way	The government intervened with a heavy hand, imposing strict regulations.
old hand at sth.	someone very experienced	He’s an old hand at troubleshooting software issues.
Many hands make light work.	Work is easier when shared.	Let’s all help clean the kitchen — many hands make light work.

Practice

Exercise 1. Complete the text below with the correct idiom or part of an idiom from the table above.
❗Note that the text deliberately includes many hand-related idioms to help you see their meanings in context. Of course, it wouldn’t be natural to cram 15 idioms — especially all hand-related — into a single short paragraph.

After years of struggling to live from ___ (1), Maria decided to take ___ (2) and start her own business. At first, she had her ___ (3) managing orders, suppliers, and customer complaints, but her experience as an ___ (4) hand at logistics helped her keep everything ___ (5) hand. Her mentor gave her a ___ (6) hand to design the new product line, but when a competitor leaked their plans, it ___ (7) her hand to speed up production. Luckily, her knowledge of the local market, which she knew like ___ (8), gave her the advantage, and soon she had the ___ (9) in negotiations with key clients. She had ___ (10) in every detail of the launch and even encouraged her team to ___ (11) at creative marketing ideas. Some rivals tried to sabotage her, but she refused to ___ (12) of the project. She knew that ___ (13), so she delegated tasks carefully, though she always avoided acting with ___ (14). Eventually, the right investors ___ (15) her hands, securing the funding she needed to grow.

Answer key 🔑

1. hand to mouth
2. matters into her own hands
3. hands full
4. old
5. in
6. free
7. forced
8. the back of her hand
9. upper hand
10. a hand
11. try their hand
12. wash her hands
13. many hands make light work
14. a heavy hand
15. fell into

Exercise 2. Click the link here and choose the right preposition to complete the sentences.

In Hand vs. At Hand

One of the idioms we have studied today is in hand, which has two meanings: 1) under control (opposite: out of hand), and 2) being dealt with (formal use). There is another idiom that sounds similar and is therefore easy to confuse with in hand — at hand. When something is at hand, it is nearby in space (i.e., close by or readily available) or in time (i.e., about to happen). For example: 1) Keep a first-aid kit at hand in case of emergencies. 2) With the deadline at hand, the team worked late into the night.

Exercise 3. Click the link here and choose either “in hand” to “at hand” to complete the sentences.

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