hand in glove
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
In association or collusion.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
God worked hand in glove with the men who put apartheid in place.
Oil companies insist that exploitation can go hand - in - glove with caring for the environment, and have begun an intensive lobbying campaign to support the bill.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “hand in glove” mean?
In association or collusion.
Is “hand in glove” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.