on hand
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.40 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "If you have cornstarch on hand, use it; otherwise, try a little flour."
- "Freight rolling stock distribution is the concern of a section in the office. The clerk in charge of this section receives bulk returns from the districts at regular intervals of wagons on hand and wagon requirements."
- "Rustu failed to collect a Whitehead corner, Shawcross saw his effort blocked and Crouch was on hand to bundle over the line from three yards out."
- "She was on hand again in March when the EU gave €7.4bn (£6.3bn) to Egypt’s abusive dictator, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, partly to curb migrant flows."
Etymology
From Middle English *onhande, onhende, from Old English onhende (“on hand, demanding attention”), from Proto-Germanic *anahandijaz. Equivalent to on- + hand. Cognate with Icelandic áhendur (“within reach”). Compare offhand.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *onhande, onhende, *anahandijaz
Inflected Forms
Phrases
on one's hands
Frequently Paired Words
on one's hands