lay hands on
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to get or obtain something, often with difficulty
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
nhận được hoặc có được điều gì, thường phải cố gắng
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: physically touch or grasp
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I finally laid hands on the book I needed
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “lay hands on” mean?
to get or obtain something, often with difficulty Literally: physically touch or grasp
Is “lay hands on” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.