Word.ws English Dictionary

having one's hands full

having one's hands full is the present participle and gerund of have one's hands full.

Meaning of have one's hands full

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)

  1. (idiomatic) 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.

Questions about having one's hands full

What is having one's hands full the present participle and gerund of?
Having one's hands full is the present participle and gerund of have one's hands full.

Words near having one's hands full in the dictionary

  1. having one's fingers on the pulse
  2. having one's guard up
  3. having one's hand in the till
  4. having one's hand out
  5. having one's handful
  6. having one's hands full
  7. having one's head read
  8. having one's head up one's ass
  9. having one's heart in
  10. having one's heart in one's boots
  11. having one's heart in the right place

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: having one's hands full (page history and authors); 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.

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