See also: glad-hand and gladhand

English edit

Noun edit

glad hand (plural glad hands)

  1. A warm welcome offered to a guest by a host.
    • 1917 July, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 180, column 2:
      And with that he gave me the "glad hand" and a pat on the shoulder.
    • 1964 June 19, “Most Likely to Succeed”, in Time:
      The young men who will get the corporate glad hand are some of the most sought after graduates of the class of '64.
  2. A coupling device used on semi-trailer trucks for attaching air brake lines from the tractor to the trailer.

Related terms edit