hands-on
UK/ˌhændz ˈɒn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northern US/ˌhændz ˈɑn/
hands-on adjective: involving active participation.
Adjective
hands-on (not comparable)
- Involving active participation.
- The internship will provide hands-on training.
- Our manager has a very hands-on approach.
- Synonyms:
- at the coal face, front line, in the trenches, action-based
Noun
hands-on (plural hands-ons)
- A session of active participation, often as part of training or education.
Examples of hands-on in a sentence
- Hands-on computing can make complicated computer tasks more natural to users.
- The museum offers hands-on exhibits for children.
- A basic hands-on kit that introduces you to good soldering techniques while working on state-of-the-art printed circuit board circuits.2018 January, “Toy Catalog”, in Elenco, number 38, page 52:
- Apprenticeships are also a useful way of teaching the practical, hands-on skills that the modern railway needs.2023 March 8, Neil Robertson, “Tackling the skills shortage”, in RAIL, number 978, page 33:
Synonyms of hands-on
- at the coal face
- front line
- in the trenches
- action-based
Forms of hands-on
| plural | hands-ons |
|---|
Origin of hands-on
Possibly from the phrase all hands on deck.
Questions about hands-on
- What does hands-on mean?
- Hands-on means involving active participation.
- How do you use hands-on in a sentence?
- Hands-on computing can make complicated computer tasks more natural to users.
- What part of speech is hands-on?
- Hands-on can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce hands-on?
- Hands-on is pronounced /ˌhændz ˈɒn/ (UK).
Words near hands-on in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hands-on (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “hands-on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hands-on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.