like the back of one's hand
12
5.4
- idiom
:
como la palma de la mano
- I know this town like the back of my hand.
- know like the back of my hand
- place like the back of my hand
- road like the back of my hand
Examples
-
I know this place like the back of my hand.
-
I know it like the back of my hand.
-
I know these streets like the back of my hand.
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I know this city like the back of my hand.
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I know these roads like the back of my hand.
-
And I know this road like the back of my hand.
Fiction book (1996) -
I know this territory like the back of my hand.
-
I know these mountains like the back of my hand.
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I know this alley like the back of my hand.
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I know this town like the back of my hand.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Completely, showing strong knowledge or feeling
919
1.0
In a fairly good way
59
4.6
In a way that shows a very close personal connection or deep knowledge
2
4.1
In a friendly, informal way that shows you know someone well
Antonyms
How Familiar
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + the + back + of + one's + hand
The expression evokes the literal image of the back of one’s hand to signal extreme familiarity, so a learner who knows 'like', 'back' and 'hand' can often infer the meaning 'very familiar' from the simile; many languages use comparable analogies. However, the metaphorical, conventionalized reading (knowing something as intimately as one knows a body part) is not fully compositional or an everyday literal inference, so it is not completely transparent.
Etymology
Like the back of one's hand gives a simple image: you see the back of your own hand every day and know its lines and marks. So saying you know something 'very well' means you know it as clearly as you know your own hand.