from hand to hand

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from hand to hand

From person to person, as of something passed between them by hand. The note went from hand to hand through the classroom but never reached its intended recipient—the teacher snatched it first.

from hand to hand

Fig. from one person to a series of other persons. The book traveled from hand to hand until it got back to its owner. By the time the baby had been passed from hand to hand, it was crying.

See also: hand

References in periodicals archive ?

Leavitt is author of many works of fiction, including The Lost Language of Cranes, and the coeditor with Mark Mitchell of several anthologies, including Pages Passed From Hand to Hand.

Maurice October 1971: David Leavitt measures the impact of E.M. Forster's passionate novel of gay love, published after his death. (Justifying our love)

anthology Pages Passed From Hand to Hand is to take a

These writings are still being passed from hand to hand.

Pages Passed From Hand to Hand: The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English From 1748 to 1914