hand-to-mouth

H h

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [hand too noun mouth]
- /hænd tu noun maʊθ/
- /ˌhænd.təˈmaʊθ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [hand too noun mouth]
- /hænd tu noun maʊθ/

Definitions of hand-to-mouth word

adjective hand-to-mouth offering or providing the barest livelihood, sustenance, or support; meager; precarious: a hand-to-mouth existence. 1
adjective hand-to-mouth meeting only immediate needs 1
adjective hand-to-mouth A hand-to-mouth existence is a way of life in which you have hardly enough food or money to live on. 0
adjective hand-to-mouth Hand-to-mouth is also an adverb. 0
adjective hand-to-mouth with barely enough money or food to satisfy immediate needs 0
adjective hand-to-mouth characterized by the necessity of spending or consuming all that is obtained; at or below the level of mere subsistence 0

See all 7 definitions of hand-to-mouth

Information block about the term

Origin of hand-to-mouth

First appearance:

before 1500

One of the 26% oldest English words

First recorded in 1500-10

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Hand-to-mouth

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Hand-to-mouth

hand-to-mouth popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 32% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 66% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.