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from hand to hand

A traditional English idiom describing the passing of something — an object, idea, responsibility, or rumor — from one person to another in succession.

ˈfɹʌm ˈhænd ˈtu ˈhænd40 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
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UK
#1·Apr 28, 2026UK

A traditional English idiom describing the passing of something — an object, idea, responsibility, or rumor — from one person to another in succession. It evokes a chain of handoffs, whether literal (passing a document around a room) or figurative (a story spreading through a community). The phrase implies direct, personal transmission rather than broadcast communication, and carries a sense of something moving continuously through a social network.

The petition traveled from hand to hand through the entire office before it reached the manager's desk.
Origin: Editorial expansion authored on Slangora (model-assisted, hedged).
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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK

(UK, idiomatic) From one individual to another.

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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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