to wait on hand and foot
1
7.4
- idiom
:
atender a alguien
- After his injury, he was waited on hand and foot by his family, who catered to all his needs.
Examples
-
I am not the kind of woman that has to be waited on hand and foot.
-
Baron: You would think that anybody who could play like that would be declared a national treasure, courted by kings and queens, waited on hand and foot.
Fiction book (1993) -
Loren would have to put him in an expensive facility, where he might be waited on hand and foot.
Fiction book (1996) -
You don't want to get waited on hand and foot like the Queen of Sheba?
-
She joked about it to her mum, pretending that she had always wanted to be waited on hand and foot.
Fiction book (1992) -
You don't think she'll be waited on hand and foot and eat like a true nouveau riche or captain of industry?
Fiction book (1995) -
She currently lives in a suburb of Houston with her husband, whom she waits on hand and foot and feeds a steady diet of butter-fried everything.
Blog text (10) -
During the vacation, the resort staff waited on hand and foot, ensuring we had everything we needed.
-
At the gala, the guests were waited on hand and foot by the attentive waitstaff, who fulfilled their every request.
Synonyms
20
3.4
To serve people at a table by bringing food or drinks
Antonyms
How Attentive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb phrase 'wait on' can be understood as 'serve', and the image of attending to someone's 'hand and foot' conveys an idea of complete, literal care, so a learner who knows the constituents will likely infer an intensive sense of serving. However 'hand and foot' functions idiomatically as an intensifier rather than a literal description, so the exact nuance 'attend to all their needs or wishes' is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Wait on hand and foot may come from the image of a servant caring for a person's hand and foot, doing every small job like washing or dressing them. That's why it now means 'to do everything for someone' or 'look after all their needs'.