English

Verb

fill one's hand

1. (US, idiomatic) To draw one's handgun, especially for an armed confrontation.
   • 1905, Alfred Henry Lewis, The Sunset Trail (2005 edition), ISBN 9781417908349, p. 377:

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

   • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, ISBN 9780802132956, p. 4:

     "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," 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