Word.ws English Dictionary

know like the back of one's hand

know like the back of one's hand verb: to be intimately knowledgeable about something.

Verb

know like the back of one's hand (third-person singular simple present knows like the back of one's hand, present participle knowing like the back of one's hand, simple past knew like the back of one's hand, past participle known like the back of one's hand)

  1. (transitive, simile) To be intimately knowledgeable about something.
    • He knows the software like the back of his hand, and can often solve problems over the phone, without looking.
    • "I can; know that country like the back of my hand. You haven't got a road map, I suppose. Well, no matter, I'll give you the lay of the land without it."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 218

Synonyms of know like the back of one's hand

Forms of know like the back of one's hand

third-person singular presentknows like the back of one's hand
present participleknowing like the back of one's hand
pastknew like the back of one's hand
past participleknown like the back of one's hand
alternative formknow like the palm of one's hand

Questions about know like the back of one's hand

What does know like the back of one's hand mean?
Know like the back of one's hand means to be intimately knowledgeable about something.
What part of speech is know like the back of one's hand?
Know like the back of one's hand is a verb.
What is the past tense of know like the back of one's hand?
The past tense of know like the back of one's hand is knew like the back of one's hand.

Words near know like the back of one's hand in the dictionary

  1. know how to walk before one can run
  2. know if one is Arthur or Martha
  3. know inside and out
  4. know inside out
  5. know like a book
  6. know like the back of one's hand
  7. know like the palm of one's hand
  8. know no bounds
  9. know of
  10. know on what side one's bread is buttered
  11. know on which side one's bread is buttered

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: know like the back of one's hand (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-know like the back of one's hand.ogg.

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