handful

[ hand-fool ]
See synonyms for: handfulhandfuls on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural hand·fuls.
  1. the quantity or amount that the hand can hold: a handful of coins.

  2. a small amount, number, or quantity: a handful of men.

  1. Informal. a person or thing that is as much as one can manage or control: The baby's tantrums made him a handful.

Origin of handful

1
before 900; Middle English, Old English. See hand, -ful

usage note For handful

See -ful.

Words Nearby handful

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

How to use handful in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for handful

handful

/ (ˈhændfʊl) /


nounplural -fuls
  1. the amount or number that can be held in the hand

  2. a small number or quantity

  1. informal a person or thing difficult to manage or control

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