forced someone's hand

A form of force someone's hand — Bring about a situation which necessitates an agent to act, often causing a plan to be executed prematurely.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verb
  1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of force someone's hand
Cite this entry
APA

forced someone's hand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forced%20someone's%20hand

MLA

“forced someone's hand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forced%20someone's%20hand. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forced someone's hand,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forced%20someone's%20hand.

Source: forced someone's hand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.