How to use handful in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Handful means the amount that a hand will grasp or contain. Example: “Those twins are a real handful to look after.”

Examples of handful by meaning

nounA small number, usually approximately five.

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
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

nounSomething which can only be managed with difficulty.

Those twins are a real handful to look after.
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

More sentences with handful

There comes a fairy in the courtyard, bearing a handful of gifts.From the entry courtyard
The farmer grabbed a handful of sacking and rubbed down the cow.From the entry sacking
On the boys' palms were handfuls of sand.From the entry palm
I picked up a handful of brazils from the bowl.From the entry brazil
It's no fair that you each got a handful of candies and I just got what was left.From the entry no fair
We were expecting just a handful of people to come to the festival, but then a truckload of revellers started arriving at the festival gates.From the entry truckload
"The signalling at Salisbury has be replaced for safety reasons in the next handful of years.2026 February 18, Paul Clifton, “West of England Line problems laid bare”, in RAIL, number 1055, page 7. From the entry decay
And we only focus on those handful of industries, and we're not all things to all people.2026 February 18, Patrick Redmond O'Sullivan, “Technology One Limited (THNOF) Shareholder/Analyst Call – February 17, 2026 7:30 PM EST –…. From the entry insto
A handful of Philippine soldiers and their families are stationed on Nanshan or Lawak Island.2024 January 16, Sebastian Strangio, “Philippines to Upgrade South China Sea Outposts, Military Chief Says”, in The Diplomat, archived…. From the entry Nanshan
Switch up the carrot for grated apple with a small handful of raisins for apple pie porridge.2020 July 23, Rebecca Wilson, What Mummy Makes: Cook Just Once for You and Your Baby, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, →ISBN. From the entry builder's mug
Then you would kneel and smear a handful of pomade through my hair, comb it over.2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, New York: Penguin. From the entry smear
No doubt, a handful of people are immensely benefiting from the policies of the Modi Sarkar.2017, Taachal, What after Modi Sarkar?. From the entry sarkar
Many people, or at least a handful of very loud people, hate to being dubbed Millennial.2015 August 24, Samantha Sharf, “What is a ‘Millennial’ Anyway? Meet the Man who Coined the Phrase”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes…. From the entry loud
She was waiting for him to give her a handful of mash, and he did.2015, Alain Poissant, The Fate of Bonté III. From the entry eat out of the palm of someone's hand
She said, “You indicated little Teddy's become quite a handful.” “Theodore,” said Christopher.2013 April 12, Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge: The Beloved Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN. From the entry teddy
There were handfuls of chokecherries for dessert and a lemonade made from sumac.2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 72. From the entry chokecherry
The Vatican on Sunday publicly unveiled a handful of bone fragments purportedly belonging to St.2013 November 24, “Vatican displays bones purportedly belonging to St. Peter, the first pope”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.…. From the entry St. Peter
A handful of local elections in Mississippi is hardly a blue wave.2013 June 23, Molly Ball, “Can Democrats Win Back the Deep South?”, in The Atlantic. From the entry blue wave
The priest sprinkled a handful of token soil on to the coffin lid.2012 [1987], Rupert Thomson, Dreams of Leaving, reprint edition, A&C Black, →ISBN. From the entry spadeloads
Taking out a handful of paddy the old woman exclaimed, “Look how good this paddy is!2011, Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated by Deepika Phukan, The Story of Felanee. From the entry paddy
Mac turned to the bed and pulled a handful of Nokias from the bag.2011, Mark Abernethy, Golden Serpent, →ISBN, page 92. From the entry Nokia
“There might be a handful of potioners in Gerse who deal in stuff like that.2011, Elizabeth C. Bunce, Liar’s Moon, Arthur A. Levine Books, →ISBN, page 46. From the entry potioner
You will undoubtedly have a handful (or footful!) of questions along the way.2011, Dr. Craig Richards, Thomas Hollowell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Barefoot Running, →ISBN. From the entry footful
Gracie's handful of treasures hit the plastic bottom with a hollow rattle.2011, Susan Andersen, Exposure. From the entry lellow
He may possibly have sold a reporter a handful of wolf tickets.2010, Donald Hall, Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry sell wolf tickets
For three days the children had eaten only Wheat Bisks in water and handfuls of raisins.2008, Monica Ali, Brick Lane, page 97. From the entry wheat bisk
A handful of weapons sat beside a batskin mattress filled with dried grasses.2008, Jim C. Hines, Goblin War, New York: Daw Books. From the entry batskin
Your correspondent has a handful of superannuated computers lying around the home.2007 June 1, “Sledgehammers and hard drives”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 16 May 2025. From the entry superannuated
Like most traditional Scottish cooking, Cullen skink is simple, rib-sticking fare made from a handful of ingredients.2007, “Soups and Salads”, in 1001 Foods to Die For, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 124. From the entry Cullen skink
But wouldn't it be wise to commit a handful to memory for those teleprompterless personal appearances?2005, Mike Walker, Rather Dumb: A Top Tabloid Reporter Tells CBS How to Do News, Nelson Current, →ISBN, page 98. From the entry teleprompterless
He reached for a handful of kutia, the luscious sweet of boiled wheat, poppy seeds and honey.2003, Laura Langston, chapter 16, in Lesia’s Dream, Toronto, Ont.: HarperTrophyCanada, published 2005, →ISBN, page 189. From the entry kutia
Only a relative handful of files dealt with the far right.2002, Charlie Pottins, “How ADL got caught in Apartheid spy case”, in Jewish Socialist, number 46. From the entry range
The takeoff roll in the -6 is a bit of a handful (footful?).1996, Sport Aviation - Volume 45, page 34. From the entry footful
The handful of never-ending summer classics annually activated by rock-radio programmers.1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 151. From the entry programmer
And, unfortunately, have only a handful of business applications software packages that really take advantage of them.1983, Computerworld, volume 17, number 49, page 21. From the entry bitter
Of a handful of sheng-yüan lists available, two are arranged according to local clans.1964, Ping-ti Ho, The Ladder of Success in Imperial China, Science Editions, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 167. From the entry Hai-men

Meaning of handful

noun The amount that a hand will grasp or contain.
noun A hand's breadth; four inches.
noun A small number, usually approximately five.

Full definition of handful

Questions about handful in a sentence

How do you use handful in a sentence?: Handful is used as a noun. For example: “Those twins are a real handful to look after.”
What is a short sentence with handful?: “On the boys' palms were handfuls of sand.”
What does handful mean?: Handful means the amount that a hand will grasp or contain.

Adapted from Wiktionary: handful (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use handful in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/handful. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.