Word.ws English Dictionary

handwhile

handwhile noun: a little while; a moment, an instant.

Noun

handwhile (plural handwhiles)

  1. (obsolete) A little while; a moment, an instant.
    • Yea, mine owne sayings are every hand-while alleadged against my selfe, when God wot I perceive it not., II.17

Forms of handwhile

pluralhandwhiles
alternative formhand-while

Origin of handwhile

From Middle English handwhile, from Old English handhwīl (“an instant”), equivalent to hand + while. Cognate with Middle High German hantwile (“handwhile”).

Questions about handwhile

What does handwhile mean?
Handwhile means a little while; a moment, an instant.
What part of speech is handwhile?
Handwhile is a noun.
What is the plural of handwhile?
The plural of handwhile is handwhiles.

Words near handwhile in the dictionary

  1. handwells
  2. Handwerk
  3. Handwerks
  4. handwheel
  5. handwheels
  6. handwhile
  7. handwhiles
  8. handwipe
  9. handwipes
  10. handwork
  11. handworked

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handwhile (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: “handwhile.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/handwhile. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.