glad-hand

1 of 2

verb

glad-handed; glad-handing; glad-hands

transitive verb

: to extend a glad hand to
candidates glad-handing everyone they meet

intransitive verb

: to extend a glad hand
glad-handing as if he were running for mayor
glad-hander noun

glad hand

2 of 2

noun

: a warm welcome or greeting often prompted by ulterior reasons

Examples of glad-hand in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Verb
Vance joined Trump for a surprise stop at a McDonald’s to glad-hand adoring fans, leading to viral videos and news coverage that aides said surpassed a standard rally. Marianne Levine, Washington Post, 16 July 2024 Networking at its core, is not about glad-handing people at awkward, structured, networking events, although those events serve their purposes for some industries and are excellent for practicing your elevator pitch. Jay Sullivan, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024 But there are additional practical factors on top of whatever institutional bias may exist — like the fact that Malone glad-handed all of Nashville, in contrast to Bey’s fairly transparent attitude of alienation from or at best indifferent attitude to Music City’s institutions. Chris Willman, Variety, 4 Oct. 2024 Giacalone, whom investigators describe as a grim-faced recluse, was at the Southfield Athletic Club, glad-handing acquaintances and even strangers. John Wisely, Detroit Free Press, 30 July 2024 Vance, the onetime Trump critic, glad-handed his way through a crowd of admirers as his place on the ticket was made official. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 16 July 2024 Inside the chamber, as the President walked the aisle to the podium, slowly, endlessly, glad-handing legislators, he was confronted by the Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wore a red MAGA hat despite the House’s ban on campaign paraphernalia. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2024 Extended scenes of Michel working the room and greeting longtime customers go beyond glad-handing schmaltz to substantive discussions of his practices and influences and, above all, to his unfolding, for diners, of the Troisgros family’s multigenerational story. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2023 As the most powerful Chinese leader in generations, Xi Jinping rarely bothers to glad-hand or to try charming a crowd. David E. Sanger, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2023
Noun
But for all the talk of South Carolina’s penchant for dirty tricks, the state also values the glad hand. Sharon Lafraniere, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024 Arguably the most notorious figure from the game’s most storied rivalry flew from his South Florida home to Boston for Tuesday night’s game and was expected to glad hand a few Yankees before, for many of them, the biggest game of their lives. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2021 His medium, his material, is human frailty, the near end of original sin, and the tools of his trade are the glad hand, the scratched back, the padded envelope, the cut corner, and the jumped line. James Parker, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1903, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

circa 1895, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of glad-hand was circa 1895

Dictionary Entries Near glad-hand

glad hand

glad-hand

gladiate

Cite this Entry

“Glad-hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glad-hand. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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