HAND-TO-HAND Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

hand-to-hand

adjective

Definition of hand-to-hand

as in close-in

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

as in physical

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hand-to-hand Up to this point in the story, James Butler Hickok had already lived a life of adventure, not least of which included hand-to-hand combat with a bear. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026 There is a weird intimacy to hand-to-hand combat and the brutality of it. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026 In a video released on Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau had partnered with the UFC, putting roughly 300 federal agents through hand-to-hand combat training ahead of UFC Freedom 250. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 11 June 2026 In the spirit of the franchise, the action isn’t relegated to hand-to-hand combat and stealth. — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 22 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for hand-to-hand

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-to-hand

Adjective

Michigan is one of a handful of states that does not grant an 18-year-old a general close-in-age exemption for attempting to have sex with a 15-year-old.

— Daniel LaChance, The Conversation, 21 Sep. 2026
Split-ticket test Democrats have spent years chipping away at Republican dominance in Atlanta’s close-in suburbs.

— Adam Beam, AJC.com, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of close-in

Adjective

Habits are usually paired with physical or emotional cues, and disrupting those cues can disrupt the habit.

— Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
There was also a physical dispute between Parillo and Amy Helm after her removal, during which police were called to LHS in Woodstock.

— Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of physical

Adjective

Electricians use plug and play wiring, and our pipes are far more convenient plastic as opposed to lead.

— Scott Levenson, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
The Dodgers were a convenient boogeyman, but the owners’ desire for cost-control is not actually contingent on the results of a small-sample-size tournament.

— Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of convenient

Adjective

Wearables Are Driving Sleep Health News in 2026 The somatic movement is running parallel to a surge in sleep tracking.

— Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
The study did not test broader lifestyle interventions such as somatic exercises, and researchers stress that more work is needed to determine whether improving sleep can actually reduce hemorrhoid risk or severity.

— Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of somatic

Adjective

Add-ons include a handy ferro rod pendant for campers, a 20-piece bit set, and replacement graphite tips and blades.

— Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2026
Neil and Brenda met just days after Neil invented his time machine, which proved to be a handy access pass.

— S. M. Reznik, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of handy

Adjective

The tension between intellectual certainty and its corporeal obverse is the novel’s most interesting possibility, yet its campus plot repeatedly narrows into a question of who deserves our sympathy.

— Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
Editor Cam McLauchlin never cuts them into mere blitzes of limbs and blood, though DP Katelin Arizmendi’s acidic palette of yellows, greens and corporeal streaks of red does lend the realism a kind of pop-art splendor.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of corporeal

Adjective

Vegetable Oils Vegetable and seed oils are some of the richest non-animal dietary sources of CoQ10.

— Verywell Health, Verywell Health, 16 July 2026
Computer models and other non-animal testing methods still aren’t the best available science, critics contend.

— Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 21 June 2026

Definition of animal

Adjective

McKinsey was charged in Alameda County with one count of cruelty to a child and corporal injury to a child, both misdemeanors.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
Alameda County prosecutors subsequently charged McKinsey with two misdemeanors — cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child.

— Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of corporal

Browse Nearby Words

hands over

hand-to-hand

hand-to-mouth

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Style

“Hand-to-hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-to-hand. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of hand-to-hand

adjective

Example Sentences

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