When measuring horses, a hand is taken to be four inches. One inch is 2.54 centimetres, so a hand is 10.16 centimetres.
Hands are subdivided into inches, so (for example) 15.2 hands is 15 hands and 2 inches (or 62 inches).
In Biblical exegesis (interpretation of the Bible), a hand is taken to be equivalent to three inches.
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