mob-handed

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: mobhanded, and mob handed

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

mob-handed (comparative more mob-handed, superlative most mob-handed)

  1. (British) Being a member of a group, especially one with violent or threatening intent.
    • 2005, Quintin Jardine, Lethal Intent:
      'I didn't expect to see you today,' he went on, 'especially not mob-handed. Mind you, I don't remember a great deal about seeing you yesterday.'
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:mob-handed.

Adverb

mob-handed (comparative more mob-handed, superlative most mob-handed)

  1. (British) As a member of a group, especially one with violent or threatening intent.
    • 2014 September 5, Boyd Tonkin, “Ashya King showed we still don’t know the limits of liberty”, in The Independent:
      The forces of the law waded in mob-handed when, it seems, they ought to have applied a lighter, more consensual touch.

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