Word.ws English Dictionary

handicapping

handicapping is the present participle and gerund of handicap.

Meaning of handicap

Verb

handicap (third-person singular simple present handicaps, present participle handicapping, simple past and past participle handicapped)

  1. (transitive) To encumber with a handicap in any contest.
  2. (broadly, figuratively, transitive) To place at disadvantage.
    • The candidate was handicapped by her lack of experience.
  3. To estimate betting odds.
    • Grandpa Andy would buy the racing form the day ahead of time so he could handicap the race before he even arrived at the track.

See all 9 meanings of handicap

Noun

handicapping (plural handicappings)

  1. The imposition of a handicap.
    • Much of this prejudice, indeed, persists; for instance, in the heavy handicappings with which insurance companies saddle their West Indian policies, […]1868, The British and Foreign Medico-chirurgical Review, page 238

Forms of handicapping

pluralhandicappings

Questions about handicapping

What does handicapping mean?
Handicapping means the imposition of a handicap.
What is handicapping the present participle and gerund of?
Handicapping is the present participle and gerund of handicap.
What part of speech is handicapping?
Handicapping is a noun.
What is the plural of handicapping?
The plural of handicapping is handicappings.

Words near handicapping in the dictionary

  1. handicapped spaces
  2. handicapped-accessible
  3. handicappeds
  4. handicapper
  5. handicappers
  6. handicapping
  7. handicappings
  8. handicappism
  9. handicaps
  10. handicraft
  11. handicrafter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handicapping (page history and authors); handicap (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.

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