sit on one's hands
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sit on one's hands
verb sits on one's hands · sitting on one's hands · sat on one's hands
-
To remain idle when action is needed, perhaps because of fear, ignorance, complacency, indecisiveness, or dislike of the person(s) or situation.
"Ministers cannot continue to sit on their hands, hoping this dispute will go away. Our members are fully prepared to fight tooth-and-nail for a negotiated settlement," RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch has warned.
Similar: arse about, arse around, bludge, bum around, cabbage, clown around, dally, dawdle, dick about, dick around, diddle, dilly-dally
- To fail to applaud when expected to. While Boston is a "musical town," audiences here sat on their hands a good part of the time.
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verb to remain idle when action is needed
Talk about this word "sit on one's hands." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sit%20on%20one's%20hands. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sit on one's hands. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sit%20on%20one's%20hands "sit on one's hands." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sit%20on%20one's%20hands.Cite this
@misc{sit_on_one_s_hands_2026,
title = {sit on one's hands},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sit%20on%20one's%20hands},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
