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hand in the cookie jar. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
hand in the cookie jar, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
hand in the cookie jar in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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hand in the cookie jar, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
After small children disobediently taking cookies to snack on, hoping their parents won't hear.
Pronunciation
Noun
hand in the cookie jar (plural hands in the cookie jar or hands in cookie jars)
- Used metaphorically to indicate some act of stealing
- Synonym: fingers in the cookie jar
She had her hand in the cookie jar throughout her term of office.
He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and eventually found guilty of embezzlement.
1969 December 13, “Insurance Man Accused in Theft of $400,000”, in Los Angeles Times, page A10:A Long Beach insurance broker, who admittedly got caught with his "hand in the cookie jar", has been accused of the theft of $400,000 from the Bank of America.
1989 February 19, Claudia Deutsch, “Passing Sentence Before A Trial”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 May 2009:Any crisis, whether it is a plant explosion or an executive caught with his hand in the cookie jar, takes on a life of its own.
1995, James W. McElhaney, McElhaney's Litigation, volume 1, page 49:There are chief executives of some companies who know their hands were in the cookie jar, but who are convinced that no mere lawyer could ever pin it on them.
2007 December 31, “The competition was fierce, and the judging a fraught affair”, in The Times, South Africa, retrieved 24 May 2009:Frankenmanto was, in fact, a certified kleptomaniac who had to carry a doctor’s letter on her to explain the embarrassing little moments when she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.