handful

/ˈhæn(d)fʊl/

handful noun: the amount that a hand will grasp or contain.

Noun

handful (plural handfuls or handsful)

The amount that a hand will grasp or contain.
- I put two or three corns in my mouth, liked it, stole a handful, went into my chamber, chewed it, and for two months after never failed taking toll of every pennyworth of oatmeal that came into the house: […]1712 July 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, July 15, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 431; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New...
Synonyms:

fistful
(obsolete) A hand's breadth; four inches.
- Knap the tongs together about a handful from the bottom.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
A small number, usually approximately five.
- This handful of men were tied to very hard duty.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)
- The names of a number of the most famous North American railroads could be found in the north-east; Pennsylvania, New York Central, Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, and the Norfolk & Western, to name but a handful.1985, Rodger Bradley, Amtrak: The US National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Blandford Press, page 92
A group or number of things; a bunch.
- But, aunt, she must have had some kind of education, her accent was so pure, her English so unfaulty. The other girl dropped her h's by handfuls, and made some very wild confusion in her native etymology.1866, Emma Jane Worboise, “Ivy Cottage”, in Sir Julian’s Wife, London: Virtue Brothers and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 89–90
(informal) Something which can only be managed with difficulty.
- Those twins are a real handful to look after.
- The Southern acquired them because the little Class "B4" 0-4-0 tanks were finding heavy modern rolling stock more and more of a handful, and at war's end the railway had nothing of suitable power but short wheelbase on its books to take their place on the more tortuous of the dock lines.1959 February, G. Freeman Allen, “Southampton—Gateway to the Ocean”, in Trains Illustrated, page 91
(slang) A five-year prison sentence.

handful meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

handful in Tamil

breadth of hand: கை அளவு kai aḷavu
small number: கொஞ்சம் koñcam
handled with difficulty: தலைவலி talaivali
amount held in hand: கைப்பிடி kaippiṭi

handful in Urdu

handful, fistful: یک مشت yak muśt
a handful: قبضہ qabza

More languagesFewer languages

handful in Bengali: মুষ্টি muśṭi, আঁজলা ãjola, মুঠা muṭha
handful in Telugu: చేరెడు cēreḍu, పిడికెడు piḍikeḍu
handful in Malayalam: കൈയിൽ കൊളളുന്ന അളവ്, ഒരു പിടി, അല്പം, പിടിയിൽ ഒതുങ്ങാത്ത ആൾ
handful in Kannada: ಬೊಗಸೆ, ಸೆರೆ, ಸೇರೆ, ಹಿಡಿ
handful in Punjabi: ਮੁੱਠੀ muṭṭhī, ਅੰਜਲੀ añjalī
handful in Gujarati: મૂઠી mūṭhī
handful in Odia: ଆଞ୍ଜୁଳା āñjuḷā, ମୁଠା muṭhā
handful in Sanskrit: मुष्टि muṣṭí
handful in Assamese: মুঠি muthi
handful in Nepali: अँजुलि ãjuli
handful in Pashto: لپه lapa
handful in Arabic: حَفْنَة ḥafna
handful in Indonesian: segenggam
handful in Thai: หยิบมือเดียว yib mue diew
handful in Vietnamese: nắm, vốc

Examples of handful in a sentence

You tell me the velocity of a baseball as it leaves Derek Jeter's bat, and I can use the laws of physics to calculate where it will land a handful of seconds later.2005 April 8, Brian Greene, “One Hundred Years of Uncertainty”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2021:
Many times dogs are surrendered for reasons such as changes in the family unit, a death in the family, no time to care for a dog, or because that cute little puppy is now a 100 lb untrained handful.2008, Dog Fancy, volume 39, number 11, page 76:

All 40 example sentences with handful

Synonyms of handful

Forms of handful

plural	handfuls
plural	handsful
alternative form (archaic)	handfull

Plural of handful: handfuls or handsful

Origin of handful

From Middle English handful, hondful, from Old English handfull (“handful”), from Proto-Germanic *handufullō, *handufulliz (“handful”), from Proto-Germanic *handuz (“hand”) + *fullaz (“full”); equivalent to hand + full (“fullness, plenty”) or hand + -ful. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hondful (“handful”), West Frisian hânfol (“handful”), Dutch handvol (“handful”), German Handvoll (“handful”), Danish håndfuld (“handful”), Swedish handfull (“handful”), Icelandic handfylli (“handful”).

Words formed from handful

have one's handful

Phrases with handful

Questions about handful

What does handful mean?: Handful means the amount that a hand will grasp or contain.
What is handful in Hindi?: Handful in Hindi is मूठ (mūṭh). See Handful meaning in Hindi.
How do you use handful in a sentence?: You tell me the velocity of a baseball as it leaves Derek Jeter's bat, and I can use the laws of physics to calculate where it will land a handful of seconds later.
What part of speech is handful?: Handful is a noun.
How do you pronounce handful?: Handful is pronounced /ˈhæn(d)fʊl/.
What is the plural of handful?: The plural of handful is handfuls.

Words near handful in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-handful.ogg.

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