eat out of the palm of someone's hand

Verb

eat out of the palm of someone's hand (third-person singular simple present eats out of the palm of someone's hand, present participle eating out of the palm of someone's hand, simple past ate out of the palm of someone's hand, past participle eaten out of the palm of someone's hand)

1. To obey, cooperate with, or believe with no resistance or hesitation; to be completely charmed by.
   • And there I worked with children because I had been a school teacher and children ate out of the palm of my hand.1977, Mary L. Gottesfeld, Mary Evans Pharis, Profiles in Social Work, page 60
   • By the end of his sixth grade year he had most of the faculty eating out of the palm of his hand (about like James Brolin eats out of Barbara Streisand's. She makes about a hundred million dollars a year off of album sales, and he makes less than a valet at Chilis for that anemic late night cheesy...2002, Thomas E. Posey, The Son Rises in Texas, page 184
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see eat, out of, palm, hand.
   • The interpreter said, "He says, 'give him salt'." They gave him a five-cent box of Morton's salt which he ate out of the palm of his hand.1980, George H. Gay, Sole survivor: the Battle of Midway and its effects on his life, page 155
   • She was waiting for him to give her a handful of mash, and he did. She ate out of the palm of his hand and laid down again.2015, Alain Poissant, The Fate of Bonté III