first hand

first hand

Direct(ly) (as opposed to second hand, or from a source other than oneself). Often hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun. As a teacher, I've seen first hand how reading can change children's lives. We were finally about to hear some first-hand accounts of what happened.
See also: first, hand
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(at) first ˈhand

from your own experience or knowledge, rather than from somebody else; directly: I know at first hand what it is like to be poor; we always had very little money at home. We have a first-hand account of the raid from a witness.
See also: first, hand
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • hand to hand
  • round robin
  • a round robin
  • eleventh hour
  • heads I win, tails you lose
  • black market
  • a light touch
  • rust bucket
  • good for nothing
  • good-for-nothing
References in periodicals archive
Set to the music of Nat King Cole, the final piece is scheduled to premiere in 2013 or 2014, with three of his First Hand students also slated to perform.
For Victoria Marks, UCLA professor of choreography and performance, First Hand proved a two-way street.
First-hand experience
Each novella tells a story of an experience with the virus/disease through a friend, lover, or family member or first hand.
Fiction round-up
The institute will be directed by Scott Gruber, MD, a member of the Louisville (KY) Hand Transplant Team, which performed the first hand transplant in the US in 1999.
Park Plaza Hospital in Houston establishes center of excellence for hand transplantation
Our lucky winner will get the opportunity to sample, first hand, the speed of a current Formula One car around Silverstone or Donington during the 1999 Grand Prix season.
Win The Ride Of A Lifetime
His fresh approach and creative strategies are the result of a uniquely diverse background - a blend of his experiences as a practicing real estate attorney working with many of the city's most respected builders, together with his years as Office of Economic Development (OED) Commissioner in the Koch Administration, where he learned first hand how the city's real property tax policies are developed and implemented.
Creating tax assessment strategies that succeed
WE take a first hand look at the green motoring revolution this week.
Getting behind the green wheel; WELCOME
Anita Diggs, Senior Editor and Director of One World/Ballantine Books, knows first hand that effectively reaching the market for black-interest titles continues to present a challenge.
New York Publishing's Black Pack