the.com/hired hand
Temporary arms and legs you pay for, loyalty not included.
means A laborer, especially on a farm or ranch, hired to do manual work for wages rather than out of any permanent stake in the place.
from Straightforward compound English: 'hired' (from Old English 'hyr,' payment for service) plus 'hand,' which has stood for a laborer or workman since at least the 17th-18th century — the body part doing the work standing in for the whole worker, the way we still say 'all hands on deck' or 'farmhand.' Put them together and you get exactly what it says: a hand you've hired, no more, no less.
- origin
- farm labor term, predates office jobs entirely
- implies
- skilled but replaceable, unlike a partner
- modern use
- now covers any paid-by-the-job worker