fill one's hand

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

fill one's hand (third-person singular simple present fills one's hand, present participle filling one's hand, simple past and past participle filled one's hand)

1. (US, idiomatic) To draw one's handgun, especially for an armed confrontation.
   • 1905, Alfred Henry Lewis, The Sunset Trail, published 2005, →ISBN, page 377:

     "Now everybody fill his hand!" shouted Mr. Hickok, pulling his 8-inch six-shooters.

   • 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 3:

     "He just looks at me and says: ‘Fill your hand stranger’ and hauls out an old rusty six shooter and I take off across Lincoln Park, bullets cutting all around me."

   • 1979 June 25, Richard Schickel, “Show Business: Duke: Images from a Lifetime”, in Time:

     "Fill your hand, you sonuvabitch," the old lawman cries, clamping the reins of his horse between his teeth and filling his own hands with six-gun and repeater.

Usage notes

• Used especially in portrayals of gunplay in the Old West.

Synonyms

• slap leather