handkerchief

[ hang-ker-chif, -cheef ]
See synonyms for handkerchief on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small piece of linen, silk, or other fabric, usually square, and used especially for wiping one's nose, eyes, face, etc., or for decorative purposes.

  2. a neckerchief or kerchief.

Origin of handkerchief

1
First recorded in 1520–30; hand + kerchief

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use handkerchief in a sentence

  • The company might as well have been selling dirty handkerchiefs embroidered with the Balmain name for $5,000.

    Balmain's Big Rip-Off | Robin Givhan | April 6, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • But they thought it a pretty picture, and opened the car-windows to wave their handkerchiefs.

  • Mrs. McAllister, finding out in some way that Violet was a clever seamstress, sent home fine linen handkerchiefs for her to hem.

    The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • At that moment Mr. Hammerton pushed open the door; he had come for gloves and handkerchiefs.

    Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. Drinkwater
  • We were offered sweetmeats and fruits, sprinkled with rosewater, and some attar of roses was put upon our handkerchiefs.

British Dictionary definitions for handkerchief

handkerchief

/ (ˈhæŋkətʃɪf, -tʃiːf) /


noun
  1. a small square of soft absorbent material, such as linen, silk, or soft paper, carried and used to wipe the nose, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012