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Glite Dictionary
hand in glove

hand in glove

2 7.0
Working very closely in a secret or dishonest way
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : codo a codo
  • So FedEx is thriving hand in glove with Amazon and other similar comparable delivery systems.
  • working hand in glove

And the Air Force, because the Air Force intelligence community works hand in glove with CIA a lot.

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Examples

  • They are hand in glove with the RNC and at the heart of this.

    Blog text (3)

  • We're alone and hand in glove

    Kiss Me Kate (1953)

  • And the Air Force, because the Air Force intelligence community works hand in glove with CIA a lot.

    Lex Fridman

  • They're working hand in glove.

    Contagion (2011)

  • We'll be working hand in glove in Gotham's glorious future.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Half her relatives sat on the PTA and were hand in glove with her teachers.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • That is because the regulatory regime of segregation worked hand in glove with a return to elite control over local life.

    Academic text (2017)

  • He had, for some time, been working hand-in-glove with Tory politicians.

    Academic text (1992)

  • They are acting here hand-in-glove with the Israelis and promoting the Israeli agenda and the Camp David approach to these negotiations.

    Academic text (2000)

  • And the military, as you know, work hand in glove with the Secret Service.

Synonyms

hand in hand
vshand in glove
54 3.2

People or groups work closely together to reach the same goal

adds a secretive, suspicious quality to simple cooperation
cozy
vshand in glove
  • US
35 7.9

Suggesting a secret agreement that unfairly helps both sides

focuses on close secret cooperation, not personal comfort
in cahoots
vshand in glove
  • Informal
17 7.6

Secretly working together to do something dishonest

can be secretive but not always explicitly dishonest
cooperatively
vshand in glove
7 3.3

By working together to reach a common goal

is closer and often secretive rather than merely working together
buddy-buddy
vshand in glove
  • Informal
5 8.0

Acting overly friendly in a way that seems fake or inappropriate

implies secret or suspicious collusion rather than just friendliness
hand and glove
vshand in glove
  • Informal
1 6.1

Working very closely together

adds a sense of secretive or suspicious intent beyond closeness

Antonyms

to oppose
∞ 2.9

To be against something and try to stop it

to disagree
∞ 1.0

Have a different opinion from someone

How Close

to collude
44 8.3
hand in glove
  • Informal
2 7.0
to cooperate
543 3.3

Surface Forms

hand in glove positive

Morphology

hand + in + glove

The literal image of a 'hand in a glove' evokes a very close, snug fit, so a learner who knows 'hand', 'in', and 'glove' can plausibly infer a general sense of close cooperation or alignment. However, the additional connotation of collusion or secretive/suspicious partnership is metaphorical and not fully predictable from the constituents, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Hand in glove comes from the image of a hand fitting into a glove, where the two parts are very close and move together. That's why saying people were hand in glove means they were 'working very closely together', often in a secret or suspicious way.