as in veteran
a person with long experience in a specified area
with 25 years on the job, Vinnie was the old hand everyone went to with their problems
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Recent Examples of old hand
At a tournament without Cristiano Ronaldo or Lamine Yamal, and with Kylian Mbappé’s availability for Real Madrid in question, the old hand of Messi was needed for a competition in dire need of a spark.
—
Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 20 June 2025
Director Len Wiseman is an old hand at franchise filmmaking, having made the first two Underworld films and Live Free or Die Hard (2007), which doesn’t stop everything from somehow feeling a tad chintzy.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2025
But Latta is an old hand on the committee and a longtime nuclear energy booster.
—Daniel Moore, Axios, 15 Feb. 2025
The mixture of new blood and old hands, Long says, helps the agency identify new directions and figure out the best way to fund them.
—Byjeffrey Mervis, science.org, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for old hand
Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 20 June 2025
Director Len Wiseman is an old hand at franchise filmmaking, having made the first two Underworld films and Live Free or Die Hard (2007), which doesn’t stop everything from somehow feeling a tad chintzy.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2025
But Latta is an old hand on the committee and a longtime nuclear energy booster.
—Daniel Moore, Axios, 15 Feb. 2025
The mixture of new blood and old hands, Long says, helps the agency identify new directions and figure out the best way to fund them.
—Byjeffrey Mervis, science.org, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for old hand
Recent Examples of Synonyms for old hand
veteran
Noun
-
During his postgame press conference, Dart thanked Wilson for the veteran mentorship leading up to his first career start.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Sanford was a veteran of the Iraq War, according to officials.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Old hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/old%20hand. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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