to raise one's hand
9
1.6
- phrasal verb
- /reɪz wʌnz hænd/
:
levantar la mano
- Finally, Amanda raises her hand and asks, "Do we get to sing today?"
- Finally, raise your hand
- raise your hand and say
- the teacher raised her hand
Examples
-
"One of the attendees raised her hand and asked, "Are you good, or evil?"
Fiction book (1992) -
Just, you know, raise your hand.
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No need to raise your hands, it's an open forum.
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Mr. Thompson, here would love you all to raise your hands.
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Why didn't you raise your hand?
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Finally, Amanda raises her hand and says, "Ms. Davis, can we sing next week?"
Academic text (1997) -
Please raise your hand.
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Raise your hand if you've ever experienced antisemitism.
-
Raise your hand.
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If you have a question, please raise your hand so the teacher can call on you.
Synonyms
107
1.1
To raise someone or something to a higher place
7
2.1
To lift something or someone to a higher place
4
2.2
Raise your hand to show you want to speak or answer
1
2.6
Raise your hand to show you want to take part
How Assertive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to lift one's hand to signal a desire to speak or draw attention' is directly and compositionally derived from 'raise' (lift) + 'one's' (possessive pronoun) + 'hand' (body part). The physical action and its conventional classroom/meeting use are transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Raise one's hand comes from the clear image of someone using raise to lift their hand into the air to show they want to speak or vote. That's why it now means 'to signal a desire to speak, ask a question, or draw attention'.