Fast and in a large amount

With the opening of the new supermarket, the small store on the corner is losing money hand over fist

Con l'apertura del nuovo supermercato, il negozietto all'angolo sta perdendo soldi a palate

Mr. Brown is very proud of his three sons. They are famous lawyers in Washington, making money hand over fist

Il sig. Brown è molto orgoglioso dei suoi tre figli: avvocati di grido a Washington, che guadagnano quattrini a palate

He's a very loved politician and he's raising money hand over fist for his electoral campaign

È un politico molto amato e sta raccogliendo denaro a palate per la sua campagna elettorale

At first this was a nautical expression with a literal meaning: a sailor pulling in a long rope quickly would go at it hand over hand-first one hand, then the other. Then it developed a figurative sense: sailors would say that a ship was overtaking another "hand over hand", as if the following ship was hauling itself forward with a rope. In America, in the early 19th century, the expression changed into "hand over fist", meaning "making money fast": perhaps the idea was that hauling in money requires a tight fist as well as busy hands