safe pair of hands

短语

词形变化

safe pairs of hands 复数 safe pairs of hands

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    The ability to catch and keep hold of (the ball, etc.)

    体育

    His fielding in the outfield in the early part of his career impressed me, if anything, more than his batting or bowling, for he was a beautiful thrower. ... He could run like a deer and had a very safe pair of hands.

  2. 2.

    A player who has this ability.

    the veteran shot-stopper has proved to be a safe, capable pair of hands over the years

  3. 3.

    An experienced person (especially a leader) who can be trusted to do a decent job and not to make serious mistakes; often in relation to a task which is difficult and important; often suggesting blandness or a contrast to someone brilliant but erratic.

    比喻

    1998 Thody, Philip Malcolm Waller The Fifth French Republic: Presidents, Politics and Personalities (Routledge) p.34 →ISBN The solid, reliable Monsieur Pompidou was there, as safe a pair of hands as the most timorous bourgeois could wish for

    […] Sarkozy appointed the no-nonsense Alliot-Marie in November to straighten out the Quai d'Orsay, as the ministry is known, after the shambolic three-year stint there of Bernard Kouchner, the glamorous humanitarian doctor. … She was a safe, uninspiring pair of hands who acquired a name as an enforcer.