Word.ws English Dictionary

double-handedly

double-handedly adverb: using two people.

Adverb

double-handedly (comparative more double-handedly, superlative most double-handedly)

  1. Using two people.
    • Dinghies are designed to be sailed single-handedly or double-handedly, but some larger cruising dinghies may have room for four or more people on board.2013, Barrie Smith, Jeremy Evans, Pat Manley, The Sailing Bible: The Complete Guide for All Sailors from Novice to Experienced Skipper, →ISBN
  2. Using both hands at the same time.
    • Working double-handedly also conserves your hands in large kneading strokes, for example when you are working on the adductors on the inside of the thigh.2007, Darien Pritchard, Dynamic Bodyuse for Effective, Strain-Free Massage, →ISBN, page 168
  3. By means of two approaches or agents
    • I said I was writing my memoirs, a choppy musical dedicated to counterpoint, without the axes of time and place, collapsing in upon itself because the notes will inevitably run out, returning, elaborating, crisscrossing, double-handedly creating variations upon a theme.2009, Brian Castro, The Bath Fugues, →ISBN
    • The combination of discontent and economic collapse brought about the revolution. It did not do so simply double-handedly.2014, George Graham, The Disordered Mind: An Introduction to Philosophy of Mind and Mental Illness, →ISBN
  4. Duplicitously or hypocritically.
    • NATO works double-handedly against Albanians and Serbs.2010, Nicholas C. Eliopoulos, Constantine Versus the Bankers, →ISBN, page 207

Forms of double-handedly

comparativemore double-handedly
superlativemost double-handedly
alternative formdoublehandedly

Origin of double-handedly

From double-handed + -ly.

Questions about double-handedly

What does double-handedly mean?
Double-handedly means using two people.
What part of speech is double-handedly?
Double-handedly is an adverb.

Words near double-handedly in the dictionary

  1. double-glazes
  2. double-glazing
  3. double-glazings
  4. double-hand
  5. double-handed
  6. double-handedly
  7. double-handedness
  8. double-handing
  9. double-handling
  10. double-hands
  11. double-hat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: double-handedly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “double-handedly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/double-handedly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.