on someone's hands
The phrase "on someone's hands" is often used to indicate responsibility or possession, frequently appearing in contexts where someone must manage a task or has free time.
Definition
B2General
(idiomatic)Refers to a situation or task that someone must deal with or manage.
Example
- He has a lot of work on his hands this week.
- With the new project, she has a significant challenge on her hands.
B2General
(idiomatic)Indicates that someone has free or unoccupied time.
Example
- Now that the kids are at school, she has some free time on her hands.
- With the meeting canceled, he found himself with extra time on his hands.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "on someone's hands":
put one's hands onlay hands onon someone's backrun handson one's headin handon all handson someone's assget one's hands onback of one's handhold someone's handgood on someoneon someone's accounton one's platepair of handsbare handsit on one's handseat out of the palm of someone's handin someone's faceon one's backon one's mindwith both handsin someone's eyesrunning handgive someone a handhave one's name onlay a finger onhand it tocome to handon one's legsat handhave a handle onon one's feetall hands