Definitions for HANDFUL
ˈhænd fʊlhand·ful

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. handful, smatteringnoun

   a small number or amount

   "only a handful of responses were received"

2. handful, fistfulnoun

   the quantity that can be held in the hand

GCIDERate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. handfulnoun

   A person, task, or situation, which is the most that one can manage; as, my two-year-old is a handful.

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. handfulnoun

   As much as the hand will grasp or contain. - Joseph Addison

2. handfulnoun

   A hand's breadth; four inches.

   Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom. - Francis Bacon

3. 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

4. handfulnoun

   Something which can only be managed with difficulty.

   Those twins are a real handful to look after.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Handfulnoun

   Etymology: hand and full.

   1. As much as the hand can gripe or contain.

   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.

   2. A palm; a hand’s breadth; four inches.

   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.

   3. A small number or quantity.

   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.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Handfulnoun

   as much as the hand will grasp or contain

2. Handfulnoun

   a hand's breadth; four inches

3. Handfulnoun

   a small quantity

4. Etymology: [AS. handfull.]

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. handful

   Used figuratively, in a military sense, to denote a comparatively small number; as, “a handful of men.”

Matched Categories

1. • Containerful
   • Small Indefinite Quantity

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'HANDFUL' in Nouns Frequency: #2326

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce HANDFUL?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say HANDFUL in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of HANDFUL in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of HANDFUL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of HANDFUL in a Sentence

1. Tom Forte:

   Roku reported an impressive quarter, validating our view that it is one of a handful of companies leading the transition to over-the-top video consumption.

2. Nick Dykes:

   We think there are only a handful of the transitional card in the world, maybe four or five, this is certainly the first one I have sold.

3. Tim Mulvey:

   When the January 6th Select Committee obtained access to US Capitol Police video footage, it was treated with great sensitivity given concerns about the security of lawmakers, staff, and the Capitol complex, access was limited to members and a small handful of investigators and senior staff, and the public use of any footage was coordinated in advance with Capitol Police.

4. The United:

   We have stories about firms leaving China, but that was happening before tariffs were applied because Chinese labor and land costs have been rising. Now we have more stories but no documentation that' many' firms are leaving, given the huge number of foreign firms operating in China. And we certainly don't have evidence that a large number of firms are returning production to The US, i think it's untrue to say that companies are leaving China, though it's possible that a handful may have done. What has been happening on a significant scale is that many firms have been moving, or plan to move, some of their supply chain operations out of China to avoid tariffs, and or to go to places where they sense greater political and policy stability.

5. Colin Strother:

   We need to end the circular firing squad and get to work. Our biggest obstacle to success is members of our own Democratic Party, we have one or two senators holding up big ticket items that we need to pass. We have a handful of the far left in the House who have never done anything acting like they dictate the agenda and the timeline for bills passing.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=HANDFUL
2. ^ GCIDE
   https://gcide.gnu.org.ua/?q=HANDFUL
3. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Handful
4. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=HANDFUL
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/HANDFUL
7. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
8. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=HANDFUL