What does "handful" mean?
Handful: A hand's breadth; four inches. [Obs.] Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom. Bacon.
Additional senses
- 2.A small quantity. This handful of men were tied to very hard duty. Fuller. To have one's handful, to have one's hands full; to have all one can do. [Obs.] They had their handful to defend themselves from firing. Sir. W. Raleigh.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00