Dictionary

out of hand en · ADJ

Meanings

1. Barely under control; not under control.
   • Shepard: The Alliance sent me to bring you in, Major. Can't you see this has gotten out of hand? Don't you understand you're endangering your followers? 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Presrop:
   • Clean things as you go so that the mess does not get out of hand.
   • Near-synonyms: chaotic, messy, uncontrolled, uncontrollable
   • Figueiredo's troops got out of hand and disgraced themselves by mutilating the Spanish dead and wounded on the field of battle. 1892, James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, The life of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, London Chapman & Hall, published 1892:

Forms

Antonyms

in hand

Relateds

out of one's hands · one thing led to another · eat out of someone's hand

Synonyms

messy · chaotic · uncontrollable · uncontrolled

Translations (16)

sv urspårad (not under control, out of control) · es fuera de control (not under control, out of control) · nl in het wilde weg (not under control, out of control) · de außer Kontrolle (not under control, out of control) · sv urartad (not under control, out of control) · pt fora de controle (not under control, out of control) · es desmandado (not under control, out of control) · de aus dem Ruder (now only used in aus dem Ruder laufen) (not under control, out of control) · et käest ära (not under control, out of control) · de ausufern (not under control, out of control) · de geraten (not under control, out of control) · de überhand (now only used in überhandnehmen) (not under control, out of control) · nl ongecontroleerd (not under control, out of control) · it fuori controllo (not under control, out of control) · ru неуправляемый (not under control, out of control) · fr hors de contrôle (not under control, out of control)

out of hand en · ADV

Meanings

1. Without (further) thought or consideration.
   • 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. 1954, Justice of the peace and local government review reports.:
   • 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. 1948, University of Michigan Official Publication., UM Libraries, page 175:
2. (archaic) Immediately, forthwith, or incontinently.
   • Near-synonym: offhand
   • 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. 1653, Francois Rabelais (tr. anon), The works of Mr. Francis Rabelais, doctor in physick, volume 2, Navarre society, London:
   • 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 [...]. 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.xii:

Forms

Synonyms

offhand · offhand

Translations (1)

ru без раздумий (Without (further) thought or consideration)