idiom · neutral
time on one's hands
UK/taɪm ɒn wʌnz hændz/US/taɪm ɑn wʌnz hændz/TIME·on·one's·hands
to have spare time with nothing particular to do
Examples
“During the summer holidays I had time on my hands, so I learned to cook.”
“After he retired, he found he had time on his hands and started volunteering.”
“If you have time on your hands this weekend, why not help me with the garden?”
Band 8 sentence
“After the exams finished I unexpectedly had time on my hands, so I used it to practice my presentation skills.”
Collocations
- have time on one's hands to + verb
- have time on one's hands during + period
Word family
Common mistakes
have times on my hands→have time on my hands
have time in my hands→have time on my hands
Say it for a higher band
5have free time→6have spare time→7+have time on one's hands
Synonyms
have spare time
Easily confused
kill time
“I read magazines to kill time while waiting for the train.”
Related words
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In Time
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