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Glite Dictionary
🔗 Closely together 🤝 Holding hands
hand in hand

hand in hand

13 1.0
Two people hold each other's hands while walking together
  • idiom
translation icon : tomados de la mano
  • The couple strolled through the park hand in hand, enjoying the warmth of the sunny afternoon.
  • strolling hand in hand
  • walking hand in hand

Examples

  • Philomena, we can't take away your pain, but we can walk through it with you, hand in hand.

    Philomena (2013)

  • Couples, straight and gay, walk hand in hand; families picnic; beautiful people sunbathe.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • We walk the path together, you and I. Hand in hand, we travel through the wood.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • " Couples would come in, hand in hand, arm in arm.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • They walked along hand in hand.

    Harry Brown (2009)

  • Francesca and Robert walk hand in hand, window shopping and taking in the sights.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • A couple strolled hand in hand out of the darkness to her right.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Esperanza noticed a girl and a woman walking hand in hand, each with a grocery bag in her other arm.

    Academic text (2016)

  • A couple walking hand in hand passed Sondra, their faces radiant as they smiled at each other.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Dylan and Knox walk hand in hand up a quaint, woodsy path behind Knox's home.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

arm in arm
vshand in hand
11 2.8

Walking close together while holding each other's arms

means touching palms together rather than linking arms along the bodies
to hold someone's hand
vshand in hand
  • Informal
10 2.8

To comfort and guide someone who feels anxious or unsure

describes mutual physical togetherness while walking rather than mainly giving comfort
to walk hand in hand
vshand in hand
4 2.0

Two people walk close together holding hands as a sign of affection

is the neutral phrase for two people touching palms, not only a loving sign
hand-holding
vshand in hand
1 1.9

Holding another person's hand to show love or give comfort

focuses on two people touching palms specifically while often walking together

Antonyms

alone
∞ 1.0

By yourself with no other people present

apart
∞ 1.0

Not together because of distance, time or different homes

How Close

arm in arm
11 2.8
hand in hand
13 1.0
to hold someone's hand
  • Informal
10 2.8
to touch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

hand in hand positive

Morphology

hand + in + hand

The meaning 'closely connected or working together' is directly derivable from the literal image of two hands placed/held together, so combining 'hand' + 'in' + 'hand' yields the idea of togetherness. This spatial/physical image is cross-linguistically common and follows a simple compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Hand in hand comes from the simple picture of two people walking with one person's hand in another person's hand, holding each other. That's why it means 'to hold hands while walking'.