glad hand

See also: glad-hand and gladhand

English

Noun

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

• glad-hand (verb)