handful

CEFRB1

/ˈhæn(d)fʊl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The amount that can fit in one hand.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A hand's breadth; four inches.

Examples

  • Only a handful of people came to the meeting.

  • There are a handful of naughty boys in my neighborhood.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A small number, usually approximately five.

  2. The amount that a hand will grasp or contain.

  3. A group or number of things; a bunch.

More examples

In context

  • Those twins are a real handful to look after.

  • Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom.

  • I put two or three corns in my mouth, liked it, stole a handful, went into my chamber, chewed it, and for two months after never failed taking toll of every pennyworth of oatmeal that came into the house: […]

Synonyms

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Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English handful, hondful, from Old English handfull (“handful”), from Proto-Germanic *handufullō, *handufulliz (“handful”), from Proto-Germanic *handuz (“hand”) + *fullaz (“full”); equivalent to hand + full (“fullness, plenty”) or hand + -ful. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hondful (“handful”), West Frisian hânfol (“handful”), Dutch handvol (“handful”), German Handvoll (“handful”), Danish håndfuld (“handful”), Swedish handfull (“handful”), Icelandic handfylli (“handful”).