out of hand
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.36 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
Without (further) thought or consideration.
adj
Barely under control; not under control.
Example Sentences
- "The questions covered ranged from those that could be answered out of hand, through those requiring some thought and at least a second interview, to those which presented matters for further research in theoretical statistics."
- "I still think that advice is sound, because, if justices do decide a case out of hand on the complainant's case, it is argued, as in the present appeal, that they have ruled, as a matter of law, that there was no case to answer."
- "Near-synonym: offhand"
- "He bad to open wyde his brazen gate, / Which long time had bene shut, and out of hond / Proclaymed ioy and peace through all his state [...]."
- "Now any Man finding in hot Blood, one who with a fore-thought Felony hath murthered his Daughter, may, without tying himself to the Formalities and Circumstances of a Legal Proceeding, kill him on a sudden, and out of hand, without incurring any hazard of being attainted and apprehended by the Officers of Justice for so doing."
- "Near-synonyms: chaotic, messy, uncontrolled, uncontrollable"
Usage
Inflected Forms
more out of hand (comparative)
most out of hand (superlative)