What does handful mean?
Definitions for handful
ˈhænd fʊlhand·ful
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word handful.
Princeton's WordNet
handful, smatteringnoun
a small number or amount
"only a handful of responses were received"
handful, fistfulnoun
the quantity that can be held in the hand
GCIDE
handfulnoun
A person, task, or situation, which is the most that one can manage; as, my two-year-old is a handful.
Wiktionary
handfulnoun
As much as the hand will grasp or contain. - Joseph Addison
handfulnoun
A hand's breadth; four inches.
Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom. - Francis Bacon
handfulnoun
A small quantity, usually approximately equal to five, the number of fingers on a hand.
This handful of men were tied to very hard duty. - Fuller
handfulnoun
Something which can only be managed with difficulty.
Those twins are a real handful to look after.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Handfulnoun
Etymology: hand and full.
In the park I saw a country gentleman at the side of Rosamond’s pond, pulling a handful of oats out of his pocket, and gathering the ducks about him. Freeholder, №. 44.
Take one vessel of silver and another of wood, each full of water, and knap the tongs together about an handful from the bottom, and the sound will be more resounding from the vessel of silver than that of wood. Francis Bacon, Natural History.
The peaceful scabbard where it dwelt,
The rancour of its edge had felt;
For of the lower end two handful
It had devour’d, it was so manful. Hudibras, p. i.Being in possession of the town, they had their handful to defend themselves from firing. Walter Raleigh, Apology.
He could not, with such a handful of men, and without cannon, propose reasonably to fight a battle. Edward Hyde.
ChatGPT
handful
A handful generally refers to the amount or number of something that can fit or be held in one hand. It can also be used figuratively to describe a person, task, or situation that is difficult to manage or control.
Webster Dictionary
Handfulnoun
as much as the hand will grasp or contain
Handfulnoun
a hand's breadth; four inches
Handfulnoun
a small quantity
Etymology: [AS. handfull.]
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
handful
Used figuratively, in a military sense, to denote a comparatively small number; as, “a handful of men.”
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'handful' in Nouns Frequency: #2326
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of handful in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of handful in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of handful in a Sentence
That's too far for me to drive ; I don't know my way, and I could get lost, if they have a handful of people who look like me in those places, I would be surprised. I wouldn't feel safe going there by Myrna Hart.
Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images Harrington:
We respect the right of anyone to hold views about our sport but we robustly condemn the reckless and potentially harmful actions of a handful of people in disrupting the race at a time when horses were in the parade ring, the Grand National is and always will be an iconic sporting event.
Validating their emotions is important because young relationships can be incredibly emotionally charged, they're trying on dating with only a handful of years of life experience.
While the organization has seen many successes, Jim DeMint and a handful of his closest advisers failed to resolve these problems, heritage has never been about one individual, but rather the power of conservative ideas. Heritage is bigger than any one person.
Marriage President Brian Brown:
Unelected judges and a handful of lawyers have been pushing state marriage amendments over like sleeping cows, meanwhile, stunned Americans have struggled to make sense of a legal system that puts its own political agenda ahead of the expressed will of the people.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for handful
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- hrstCzech
- håndfuld, håndsbredDanish
- Hand voll, HandvollGerman
- χούφταGreek
- plenmanoEsperanto
- puñado, manojoSpanish
- kourallinenFinnish
- manipule, poignéeFrench
- crágIrish
- làn cròigeScottish Gaelic
- marék, marok, maroknyi, maréknyiHungarian
- բուռArmenian
- gruppetto, pugno, indisciplinato, manipolo, irrequieto, birichino, manciataItalian
- 一掴み, 一握り, 少数Japanese
- [[한]] [[줌]]Korean
- saujaLatvian
- kapuranga, kutangaMāori
- гр́стMacedonian
- handenbinder, handbreedte, lastpost, handvol, beetje, handbreedDutch
- håndfullNorwegian
- garść, garstka, trudne do zniesieniaPolish
- punhado, palmo, mancheiaPortuguese
- mănunchiRomanian
- при́горшня, го́рстка, горсть, жме́няRussian
- hŕstka, hrsťSlovak
- handfull, näveSwedish
- หยิบมือเดียวThai
- жме́няUkrainian
- 少数Chinese
- ukhweshe, isandlaZulu
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"handful." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/handful>.
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