at the hands of somebody
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
done or caused by someone
Literally: under the control of someone's hands
Register: neutral
Examples
She suffered at the hands of her abusive husband
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR C1); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “at the hands of somebody” mean?
done or caused by someone Literally: under the control of someone's hands
Is “at the hands of somebody” formal or informal?
at the hands of somebody is generally neutral.