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Glite Dictionary
to hand it to

to hand it to

43 4.6
Praise someone for doing something well
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : dar crédito a
  • I have to hand it to her; she organized the event perfectly.
  • got to hand it to him
  • gotta hand it to him
  • really got to hand it to him

So, you know, technology aside, I think you just got to hand it to Jensen Huang.

Examples

Synonyms

to give a hand
vsto hand it to
707 1.8

To help someone with something or to clap to show appreciation

focuses only on giving praise or credit rather than help
to congratulate
vsto hand it to
232 2.4

To tell someone you are happy about their success or good news

gives praise or credit generally rather than a direct address
to lay at the feet of
vsto hand it to
1 8.1

To say someone caused or deserves credit for something

gives praise or credit without focusing on causal source
to offer congratulations
vsto hand it to
  • Formal
1 2.8

To tell someone you are happy for their success

offers praise or credit in everyday, less formal language
to heap on praise
vsto hand it to
4.0

To give a lot of praise, often more than needed

gives praise or credit in a measured, moderate way

Antonyms

to blame
∞ 1.6

To say that someone or something caused something bad

to criticize
701 3.3

To say what is wrong with someone or something

How Praised

to honor
  • US
796 2.3
to praise
331 1.0
to hand it to
  • Informal
43 4.6
to acknowledge
286 3.9
to ignore
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

hand it to infinitive
handed it to past
handed it to past participle
handing it to present participle
hands it to third person singular

Morphology

hand + it + to

The verb 'hand' meaning 'to give' plus the preposition 'to' (recipient) makes the construction partially compositional, but the pronoun 'it' is a vague/dummy element whose referent (credit, praise, or concession) is not literally present. The specific sense 'to give credit or praise' is a metaphorical extension of 'give' and typically requires exposure to the idiomatic use, so it is not fully transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Hand it to comes from the simple image of handing it to someone, like giving a prize or trophy to show respect. That's why hand it to now means 'to give someone praise or credit'.