ˈhan(d)-tə-ˈhand 
ˈhan-də-
: involving physical contact or close enough range for physical contact
hand-to-hand fighting
: at very close range
Examples of hand-to-hand in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 24 July 2025
In the course of that surreptitious mission, Meachum (played by Jensen Ackles) stumbled into a heated hand-to-hand fight inside the consulate’s security station, where all sorts of limbs were thrown, much furniture broken.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 16 July 2025
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 13 May 2025
In the weight room, David drops into a plank pose and moves the length of an agility ladder, hand to hand, down and back, pausing only when Will cracks a joke.
—Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hand-to-hand
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Adjective
There has been a gradual normalization of ties between India and China in recent months after relations were deeply strained in June 2020, when a brutal hand-to-hand battle in the Galwan Valley left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 24 July 2025
In the course of that surreptitious mission, Meachum (played by Jensen Ackles) stumbled into a heated hand-to-hand fight inside the consulate’s security station, where all sorts of limbs were thrown, much furniture broken.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 16 July 2025
Adverb
As Nick begins the ceremony, the handmaids who have blades sewn into their robes surreptitiously remove them and past them, hand to hand, down the pew.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 13 May 2025
In the weight room, David drops into a plank pose and moves the length of an agility ladder, hand to hand, down and back, pausing only when Will cracks a joke.
—Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hand-to-hand
Cite this Entry
“Hand-to-hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand-to-hand. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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