Handicap Meaning
/ˈhændikæp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounSomething that prevents, hampers, or hinders.
nounAn allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race (or other contest of skill) to the competitor possessing disadvantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success.
Sentence Examples
Having no will is the worst handicap.
Poor eyesight is a handicap to a sportsman.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her physical ____ makes it difficult for her to walk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The golfer had a low ____, which meant that he was a very skilled player.
Word Origin & History
From hand-in-cap, in reference to holding the game stakes in a cap.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Captain Edward Carlisle[…]felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,[…]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Eventually the elephant and camel were depatched by themselves with two laps start of the bicyclist and horse, the motor car being scratch. It was a sensational race owing to the conduct of the field, but on the handicap the elephant won, bicycle second, motor car third."
— 1901, “Gleanings”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 1, page 31:
"Here some of us fell to handicap, a sport that I never knew before, which was very good."
— 1660, Samuel Pepys, Diary of Samuel Pepys, page 95:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her physical ____ makes it difficult for her to walk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The golfer had a low ____, which meant that he was a very skilled player.