on hand
prep_phraseEtymology From Middle English *onhande, onhende, from Old English onhende (“on hand, demanding attention”), from Proto-Germanic *anahandijaz. Equivalent to on- + hand. Cognate with Icelandic áhendur (“within reach”). Compare offhand.
1
Idiomatic Available; ready; in stock.
- If you have cornstarch on hand, use it; otherwise, try a little flour.
- Freight rolling stock distribution is the concern of a section in the office. The clerk in charge of this section receives bulk returns from the districts at regular intervals of wagons on hand and wagon requirements.1950 February, “Crewe Divisional Control Room”, in Railway Magazine, page 115:
2 more examples
- Rustu failed to collect a Whitehead corner, Shawcross saw his effort blocked and Crouch was on hand to bundle over the line from three yards out.2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2 - 1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport:
- She was on hand again in March when the EU gave €7.4bn (£6.3bn) to Egypt’s abusive dictator, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, partly to curb migrant flows.2024 May 4, Simon Tisdall, “Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen, the double act that is steering the EU ever rightwards”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
- Related terms
- on one's hands