Choose the correct meaning of idiom: Hand and glove

Correct — C. Hand and glove, more often written hand in glove, describes two people or groups working in very close association.

The picture is a glove that fits its hand exactly and moves with it: nothing comes between them.

That is very closely associated → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Working in rivalry — Rivalry is competition, the opposite of the idiom. A hand and its glove move together, not against each other.
• (b)
  Acting carelessly — The idiom says nothing about carelessness. It describes how closely two parties are linked, not how they behave.
• (d)
  Openly suspicious — Suspicion is distrust, the reverse of the close bond the idiom describes. People who are hand in glove work together rather than eye each other warily.

An idiom cannot be decoded word by word, but many carry a picture that helps. In hand and glove, the glove takes the shape of the hand and moves with it.

So the phrase means being in very close association or cooperation with someone. It can carry a hint of collusion, working together in something wrong: 'The officials were hand in glove with the smugglers.'

Key facts

• Hand in glove, also written hand and glove, means in very close association or cooperation.
• The idiom can imply collusion: working closely together in something dishonest.
• It is usually followed by with: hand in glove with someone.

Common traps

• Reading the phrase as a contrast between hand and glove and choosing rivalry
• Doubting the answer because the paper prints hand and glove rather than the familiar hand in glove

No directly related past PYQ was found.