have one's hands full
have one's hands full verb: to be busy or thoroughly preoccupied.
Verb
have one's hands full (third-person singular simple present has one's hands full, present participle having one's hands full, simple past and past participle had one's hands full)
- To be busy or thoroughly preoccupied.
- He already has his hands full with two kids and a full-time job, yet he still makes time to volunteer.
- They had their hands full to defend themselves from firing.c. 1603, Walter Raleigh, Apology for the Voyage to Guiana
Forms of have one's hands full
| third-person singular present | has one's hands full |
|---|---|
| present participle | having one's hands full |
| past participle | had one's hands full |
| past | had one's hands full |
| alternative form (obsolete) | have one's handful |
Questions about have one's hands full
- What does have one's hands full mean?
- Have one's hands full means to be busy or thoroughly preoccupied.
- What part of speech is have one's hands full?
- Have one's hands full is a verb.
- What is the past tense of have one's hands full?
- The past tense of have one's hands full is had one's hands full.
Words near have one's hands full in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: have one's hands full (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-have one's hands full.ogg.
Cite this entry: “have one's hands full.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_one%27s_hands_full. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.