English

Adjective

side-handed ‎(not comparable)

1. Sideways from the hand.
   • 2004, Randy D. Smith, Sunday's Colt and Other Stories of the Old West, ISBN 1932482253, page 91:

     Lightning drew in on his tail and I gave my lariat a side-handed pitch.

   • 2014, Lee Thomas, Butcher's Road, ISBN 1590214706, page 61:

     With a motion so smooth and fast Marco could barely track it, the man at his side whipped the metal bar in a side-handed toss.

   • 2015, Gordon L. Rottman & ‎Johnny Shumate, The Hand Grenade, ISBN 1472807367, page 40:

     A sideways or side-handed throw may be necessary to avoid obstacles, toss it into a small opening, or throw it around a corner of a building or trench angle.

2. Done with the side of the hand.
   • 1967, Harlan Ellison, Dangerous Visions, page 488:

     Mallory tensed, and as the policeman passed the door, he stepped out, brought his hand over and down in a side-handed blow to the base of the neck that had every ounce of power in his shoulders behind it.

   • 1983, Stephen King, Pet Sematary:

     It was a clumsy, side-handed, chopping blow, but Louis was unprepared for it.

   • 2014, Barbara Delinsky, Secret Promises, ISBN 0373779151, page 489:

     She'd been poised to deliver another side-handed slice to Mouse's head, and only with reluctance did she lower her arm and move back.

3. Indirect; subtle.
   • 1869, William Makepeace Thackeray, “A Legend of the Rhine”, in Burlesques:

     When she appeared again, she made some side-handed inquiries regarding Otto (with that gentle artifice oft employed by women); but he was gone.

   • 2007, Sherry Lee Hoppe & ‎Bruce W. Speck, Maxine Smith's Unwilling Pupils, ISBN 1572335874, page 151:

     When he says about his wife of more than fifty years, "Whatever Maxine wants, Maxine gets," he's not making a side-handed comment about their marriage.

   • 2010, Robert Hastings, Back When Mary Alice Was Still a Blonde, ISBN 1450267408, page 205:

     Elba Rae Van Oaks — in her quest to capture the elusive Laveetra — had not entertained the possibility of a sensible conversation with her aunt, who did not appear poised to disappoint, but neither had she expected a side-handed accolade.

4. (Britain, of a baton or nightstick) Expanding.
   • 1993, Great Britain Parliament House of Lords, The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Official Report:

     ... with side-handed or expanding batons, so as to provide police officers with better protection against assaults by criminals.

   • 1996 August 22, “Force is the only one willing to follow English lead in use of canisters Grampian may arm officers with CS spray”, in Herald Scotland:

     However, Strathclyde has always said that, while it has stepped up security for officers, through the introduction of ``quick cuffs, side-handed batons, and knife-resistant vests, CS sprays were not on its ``menu.

   • 2015 June 14, Colin Brown, “Howard to approve longer police baton: Home Secretary urges more effective protection”, in The Independent:

     Michael Howard will be given a demonstration of the use of the extended baton and the more controversial side-handed baton at the Home Office.

Adverb

side-handed ‎(not comparable)

1. (of an action executed with the hand) Sideways.
   • 1972, Colorado Game and Fish Department, Colorado Outdoors - Volumes 21-22, page 36:

     Wading upstream, it was obvious I would have to cast side-handed and under-handed, with an occasional bow-and-arrow "shot."

   • 2013, Sean O'Connor, Growing Up So High: A Liberties Boyhood, ISBN 1444743104:

     I could see Tom in the Bisto mirror on the wall as he took a bottle off the shelf side-handed without breaking stride, and placed it on the counter.

   • 2014, Rob Volver, Guns 'n Money, ISBN 1493587358:

     I pull the pin and lob the explosive side-handed into the room.

2. Using the side of the hand.
   • 1992, Kenneth Royce, Exchange of Doves, ISBN 1558176063, page 84:

     As the gunman spluttered, Towler continued the momentum of his hand to catch the man side-handed in the windpipe and, with his other hand, struck him hard in the crotch.

Verb

side-handed

1. simple past tense and past participle of side-hand