'handful' definitions:
Definition of 'handful'
(from WordNet)
noun
A small number or amount; "only a handful of responses were received" [syn: handful, smattering]
noun
The quantity that can be held in the hand [syn: handful, fistful]
Definition of 'handful'
From: GCIDE
- handful \hand"ful\ (h[a^]nd"f[.u]l), n.; pl. handfuls (h[a^]nd"f[.u]lz). [AS. handfull.]
- 1. As much as the hand will grasp or contain. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A hand's breadth; four inches. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
- 3. A small quantity or number. [1913 Webster]
- This handful of men were tied to very hard duty. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
- 4. A person, task, or situation, which is the most that one can manage; as, my two-year-old is a handful. [PJC]
- To have one's handful, to have one's hands full; to have all one can do. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- They had their handful to defend themselves from firing. --Sir. W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'handful'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- a few,
- ace,
- atom,
- Augean task,
- backbreaker,
- ballbuster,
- bit,
- bitch,
- bother,
- chore,
- couple,
- dab,
- dead lift,
- dole,
- dot,
- dram,
- dribble,
- driblet,
- dwarf,
- farthing,
- few,
- fistful,
- fleck,
- flyspeck,
- fragment,
- gobbet,
- grain,
- granule,
- groat,
- hair,
- hard job,
- hard pull,
- heavy sledding,
- Herculean task,
- iota,
- jot,
- large order,
- limited number,
- little,
- little bit,
- man-sized job,
- minim,
- minimum,
- minutiae,
- mischief-maker,
- mite,
- modicum,
- molecule,
- mote,
- nuisance,
- nutshell,
- only a few,
- ounce,
- particle,
- pebble,
- piddling few,
- piddling number,
- pinch,
- pittance,
- point,
- rough go,
- scattering,
- scruple,
- small number,
- smatter,
- smattering,
- smidgen,
- smitch,
- spatter,
- spattering,
- speck,
- spoonful,
- spot,
- sprinkling,
- tall order,
- thimbleful,
- tiny bit,
- tittle,
- too few,
- tough job,
- tough proposition,
- trickle,
- trifling amount,
- trivia,
- troublemaker,
- uphill work,
- whit
Words containing 'handful'
- All hands,
- At all hands,
- At any hand,
- At hand,
- At no hand,
- At the hand of,
- By hand,
- From hand to hand,
- Hand,
- Hand in hand,
- Hand over hand,
- Hand to hand,
- Handed,
- Handing,
- Hands off,
- In hand,
- Off hand,
- On all hands,
- On hand,
- Out of hand,
- To hand down,
- To hand over,
- To have a hand in,
- To have in hand,
- To his hand,
- To my hand,
- Under the hand of,
- hand down,
- hand in,
- hand on,
- hand out,
- hand over,
- handed down,
- handfuls,
- handing over,
- hands,
- hands down,
- have in hand,
- on the other hand,
- hand-in-hand,
- hand-to-hand,
- At first hand,
- At second hand,
- Black Hand,
- Bloody hand,
- Both-hands,
- Bow hand,
- Bridle hand,
- Cap in hand,
- Clean hands,
- Comparison of hands,
- Court hand,
- Cursive hand,
- Dead hand,
- Deck hand,
- Devil's hand,
- Elder hand,
- Eldest hand,
- Engrossing hand,
- Foremast hand,
- Full hand,
- Green hand,
- Hand County,
- Hand bag,
- Hand basket,
- Hand bell,
- Hand bill,
- Hand car,
- Hand director,
- Hand drop,
- Hand gallop,
- Hand gear,
- Hand glass,
- Hand goniometer,
- Hand grenade,
- Hand guide,
- Hand language,
- Hand lathe,
- Hand lead,
- Hand money,
- Hand organ,
- Hand over fist,
- Hand over head,
- Hand plant,
- Hand running,
- Hand sail,
- Hand screen,
- Hand screw,
- Hand staff,
- Hand stamp,
- Hand staves,
- Hand tree,
- Hand vise,
- Hand work,
- Hand, SD,
- Heart and hand,
- Heavy hand,
- Hour hand,
- In one's hand,
- In one's hands,
- Index hand,
- Laying on of hands,
- Light hand,
- Minute hand,
- Note of hand,
- Off one's hands,
- On one's hands,
- Right hand,
- Round hand,
- Second hand,
- Show of hands,
- Slack hand,
- Sleight of hand,
- Small hand,
- Spear hand,
- Strict hand,
- Taut hand,
- Text hand,
- The upper hand,
- To be hand and glove with,
- To be hand in glove with,
- To be on the mending hand,
- To bear a hand,
- To bear in hand,
- To bring up by hand,
- To change hand,
- To change hands,
- To clap hands,
- To clap the hands,
- To come to hand,
- To get hand,
- To give the hand,
- To give the hand of,
- To grease in the hand,
- To grease the hand,
- To have one's handful,
- To hold hand,
- To hold in hand,
- To lay hands on,
- To lend a hand,
- To lie on hand,
- To lift the hand against,
- To lift up the hand,
- To lift up the hand against,
- To put the hand to,
- To set the hand to,
- To shake hands,
- To stand in hand,
- To strike hands,
- To strike hands with,
- To take in hand,
- To wash the hands of,
- Whip hand,
- With a high hand,
- bare handed,
- big hand,
- bridge hand,
- cash in hand,
- change hands,
- close at hand,
- come to hand,
- empty handed,
- field hand,
- free hand,
- give a hand,
- glad hand,
- hand and foot,
- hand and glove,
- hand ax,
- hand axe,
- hand blower,
- hand brake,
- hand calculator,
- hand cheese,
- hand clapping,
- hand clasp,
- hand cream,
- hand drill,
- hand fern,
- hand in glove,
- hand job,
- hand line,
- hand lotion,
- hand luggage,
- hand mirror,
- hand mower,
- hand pump,
- hand puppet,
- hand saw,
- hand shovel,
- hand throttle,
- hand to mouth,
- hand tool,
- hand towel,
- hand truck,
- hand wear,
- hand-down,
- hand-me-down,
- hand-out,
- hand-to-hand struggle,
- handed-down,
- hands-down,
- hands-off,
- hands-on,
- heavy handed,
- helping hand,
- high handed,
- hired hand,
- iron hand,
- lay hands on,
- left hand,
- left handed,
- lend a hand,
- little hand,
- lone hand,
- off-hand,
- old hand,
- on one hand,
- on the one hand,
- poker hand,
- ranch hand,
- ready to hand,
- red handed,
- running hand,
- section hand,
- shake hands,
- single handed,
- sweep hand,
- upper hand,
- Double-handed,
- Fast-handed,
- First-hand,
- Four-in-hand,
- Free-hand,
- Free-handed,
- Hand County, SD,
- Hand-tight,
- Hand-winged,
- Hard-handed,
- High-handed,
- Horny-handed,
- Large-handed,
- Left-hand,
- Left-handed,
- Light-handed,
- Lily-handed,
- Putting the hand under the thigh,
- Red-hand,
- Red-handed,
- Right-hand,
- Right-handed,
- Short-handed,
- Sinister-handed,
- Strait-handed,
- Text-hand,
- Three-handed,
- To fall into one's hands,
- To get one's hand in,
- To have one's hands full,
- To have the cards in one's own hands,
- To have the higher upper hand,
- To keep one's hand in,
- To lie on one's hands,
- To live from hand to mouth,
- To make one's hand,
- To play into a person's hands,
- To put forth the hand against,
- To put the finishing hand to,
- To put the hand unto,
- To put the last hand to,
- To stand one in hand,
- To turn one's hand to,
- Two-hand,
- Two-handed,
- Wing-handed,
- clean-handed,
- dead hand of the past,
- empty-handed,
- ham-handed,
- hand-brake,
- hand-build,
- hand-craft,
- hand-crafted,
- hand-dye,
- hand-held,
- hand-hewn,
- hand-hole,
- hand-loomed,
- hand-operated,
- hand-pick,
- hand-picked,
- hand-to-mouth,
- hand-wash,
- hand-written,
- heavy-handed,
- high-handedly,
- keep one's hands off,
- light-handedly,
- mill-hand,
- one-handed,
- red hand defenders,
- right hand man,
- single-handed,
- single-handedly,
- sure-handed,
- wash one's hands,
- Free-hand drawing,
- Hand-hole plate,
- Left-hand rope,
- Left-handed marriage,
- Left-handed screw,
- Right-hand rope,
- Right-handed screw,
- To change a horse or To change hand,
- To get the higher upper hand,
- To lay hands on one's self,
- hand-held computer,
- hand-held microcomputer,
- hand-loomed handwoven,
- left-handed pitcher,
- right-hand man,
- right-handed pitcher,
- second-hand speech,
- second-hand store,
- two-handed backhand,
- two-handed saw,
- wash-hand basin,
- wash-hand stand,
- white-handed gibbon,
- To lay violent hands on one's self,
- hand-schuller-christian disease