hired hand
- noun
- If she didn't stop Patches, her father might lose his job as the hired hand on the farm!
Really, I'm kind of a hired hand in the fight world, but I've always helped, I think.
- Really, I'm kind of a hired hand in the fight world, but I've always helped, I think.
Examples
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Duncan and the hired hands used the acreage for orchards, grazing, and crops.
Academic text (2010) -
My father's schoolwork kept him busy, so we employed a succession of hired hands for chores around the farm.
Fiction book (1996) -
Do you always have a hired hand standing right next to you?
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- I imagine they were hired hands?
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- He was a hired hand.
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Just let me work the place for a bit like a hired hand.
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Both parents worked on a farm, her mother as a cook, her father as the hired hand.
Academic text (1995) -
If you need me, send one of the hired hands to fetch me.
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Pete, Gordy, and the two hired hands were already on the rig.
Fiction book (2002) -
Ranch life has become largely mechanized, and hired hands are few these days.
Synonyms
A worker who does physical work on a ship or farm
A person employed to do physical or routine jobs
A person who does hard physical work without special skills, often on building sites
A person who works on a farm doing jobs like planting or harvesting
A person who does physical jobs like building or fixing things
A person who works on a ranch caring for cattle or horses
A person paid to work on a farm doing hard work
People who are paid to do house or farm work
A person who works on a ranch and looks after cattle, often on a horse
A person who works on a farm doing physical tasks like planting and caring for animals
A person who does hard physical work on a farm
A person who cares for cattle and works on a ranch, often riding a horse
A man who works on a farm for pay
A man who does manual work, often in a factory or on a building site
A person who works only for money and shows little loyalty or personal commitment
A person who does hard work using their hands
A person who looks after cows, often riding a horse on a farm
A person who looks after cattle on a ranch, often on horseback
A person who works on a farm doing manual tasks like planting and harvesting
A person who looks after cows on a farm or ranch, often riding a horse
A person who works on a farm doing physical work in the fields
A person who does physical work with their hands
A farm worker who lives on a large farm and cares for animals and crops
A woman who works on a farm or ranch for pay
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'hired hand' is directly built from 'hired' (engaged for pay) modifying 'hand' (a worker), so the combined sense—someone employed to do manual labor—is immediately derivable from the parts. This simple noun + modifier composition is a common, literal pattern in English (and similar in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Hired hand paints a simple picture: a person who is hired and is a hand, a helper who does heavy work on the farm. So hired hand means 'a person employed to do manual labor', especially on a farm.