handicap

handicap is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.A race, for horses or men, or any contest of agility, strength, or skill, in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors.
  2. 2.An old game at cards. [Obs.] Pepys.
  3. 3.To encumber with a handicap in any contest; hence, in general, to place at disadvantage; as, the candidate was heavily handicapped.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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