Brewer's: Make a hand of

or on (To). To slay, destroy, waste, or spoil.

“So when I came to myself again, I' cried him mercy: but he said, `I know not to show mercy;' and with that knockt me down again. He had, doubtless, made a hand of me, but that one came by, and bid him forbear.” —Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress, p. 93 (first edition).

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language