Meaning & use
one hand behind back
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiomfigurativeinformal
Used to say that someone can do something very easily, as if not trying hard at all.
Grammar: Comes after verbs like do, win, beat, or handle, often with 'with': win with one hand behind your back.
Patterns
- do something with one hand behind your back
- win something with one hand behind your back
- beat someone with one hand behind your back
She finished the whole exam in twenty minutes, with one hand behind her back.
He could run this department with one hand behind his back.
They beat us with one hand behind their backs.
phrasefixed phrase
Literally keeping one hand out of sight behind the body, for example while playing a game.
Grammar: Often used after 'with'; the possessive word changes with the person: with one hand behind my/your/his back.
Patterns
- play with one hand behind your back
For a fair contest, each player competed with one hand behind their back.
He caught the ball with one hand behind his back, which looked impossible.
Common combinations
- do something with one hand behind your back
- She could do that job with one hand behind her back.
- win with one hand behind your back
- The champions won with one hand behind their backs.
- beat someone with one hand behind your back
- Our team beat theirs with one hand behind our backs.
- handle something with one hand behind your back
- After ten years in the role, he handles complaints with one hand behind his back.
Synonyms and how they differ
- easily
- A plain adverb for the same idea, but it does not show that the person is barely trying.
- effortlessly
- Close in meaning and a little more formal; it describes the manner rather than the image of not using both hands.
- with ease
- A neutral phrase meaning 'without difficulty'; it lacks the joking, boastful tone of the idiom.
Opposites
Commonly confused: one hand behind back or hands down?
one hand behind back vs hands down
'Hands down' means 'by a large margin' or 'without any doubt', as in 'She won hands down'. It talks about how clear the result is, not about how little effort was needed.
Practice
Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom needs 'with' plus a possessive word before 'back': with one hand behind his back. Option 1 has the right pattern and the sense of doing something easily; the other options drop 'with' or use the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “one hand behind back”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.