Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use handshake in a sentence

35 example sentences · noun, verb

Handshake means the grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement. Example: “His father's affection never went further than a handshake or a clap on the shoulder.”

Examples of handshake by meaning

nounThe grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement.

  • Eccles' handshake, eager and practiced and hard, seems to symbolize for him an embrace.1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 88

More sentences with handshake

  • His father's affection never went further than a handshake or a clap on the shoulder.From the entry clap
  • The slighting of a handshake by Samuel ticked off Judi to no end.From the entry slighting
  • I waited for the modems to finish their handshaking so I could start transferring the file.From the entry handshaking
  • No matter how slimy the other Guy's wet-noodle handshake may be, never crush his hand.2013, Garland H. Green, W.P. Myers, Dan W. Hartshorn, Guy Rules, →ISBN. From the entry wet-noodle
  • Mutants can then cooperate with those who share the secret handshake and defect against the others.2012, Jan van Eijck, Rineke Verbrugge, Games, Actions, and Social Software: Multidisciplinary Aspects, page 176. From the entry secret handshake
  • Metachannels give information about events, such as handshake errors, connection, disconnection, and reconnection.2010, Oswald Campesato, Kevin Nilson, Web 2.0 Fundamentals, page 572. From the entry metachannel
  • And wet shoesies off, I think.’ Her handshake was bone-dry and feather-soft.2010, Jonathan Lewis, Into Darkness, Arrow Books, published 2011, →ISBN, pages 233 and 241. From the entry shoesies
  • Like some kind of masonic handshake, Collie passed Vanya a tube of black lippie.2007, D. M. Ross, chapter 12, in The Holy Bad, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Vanguard Press, →ISBN, page 52. From the entry lippy
  • Once the handshaking and the medals are done with, the heroness just fades.2002, Peter David, Esther Friesner, Diane Carey, Double Helix Omnibus, page 444. From the entry heroness
  • A good handshake is a fullhanded, firm and brief grasp of the hand.1982, Ronald E. Petit, Women and the career game: play to win!, →ISBN, page 123. From the entry fullhanded
  • The marble lobby of The Game Club was full of hearty handshakes and members' backslaps.1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 15. From the entry beribboned
  • Then he walked up to his players and handed out back pats and handshakes around the room.1952 November 16, Irvin Farman, “Defeat Subdues Spirit of Frogs”, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, seventy-second year, number 290, Fort…. From the entry back pat
  • A man once even argued with me that the manner of a handshake possessed no significance.1915, Edwin B[issell] Holt, “The Doctrine of the ‘Wish’”, in The Freudian Wish and Its Place in Ethics, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and…. From the entry lapsus linguæ
  • Gone was the braggadocio of superheroes and handshakes.2023, Adam Tooze, Shutdown How COVID Shook The World's Economy, Penguin Books, page 81. From the entry braggadocio
  • This earned him a handshake from Dylan.2022 August 27, Sue Haasler, “Casualty spoilers: David pretends Ollie never existed as Susan returns”, in Metro. From the entry covidy
  • A handshake from anyone is a rare enough sight in these covidy times, so coming from Dylan it’s a huge deal.2022 August 27, Sue Haasler, “Casualty spoilers: David pretends Ollie never existed as Susan returns”, in Metro. From the entry covidy
  • Cholera spread can be reduced by modifying behaviour, especially handshakes.2017 August 10, Kimani Wanjeri, “Handshakes must be banned or minimised”, in Daily Nation. From the entry elbow shake
  • “Cinco,” Marco bellowed now, hurrying across the narthex to give him a hearty handshake, which Cinco returned without enthusiasm.2012, Melissa F. Miller, chapter 42, in Irretrievably Broken (The Sasha McCandless Series), e-book edition, volume 1, Brown Street Books…. From the entry narthex
  • Are red socks a secret handshake, a mark of Etonhood, of an allegiance to the place both claimed and disclaimed?2007 April 10, Tobias Hill, “School Stories”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry smallclothes
  • Clearly the "wet noodle" handshake will not conquer the world and the "knuckle grinder" will not win friends.2003, Tiffany Field, Touch, →ISBN, page 22. From the entry wet noodle
  • When the last step has been accomplished, bridge and reward only after handshake (footshake!) has been properly completed.2001, Bonnie Munro Doane, Parrot Training. From the entry footshake
  • A good solid handshake tells it all.1998, Valerie A. M. Demetros, More Secrets of Successful Exhibiting, →ISBN, page 150. From the entry wet noodle
  • Instead of handshakes or high-fives, U.S.2020 March 4, Adrianna Rodriguez, “Goodbye, handshake. Hello, elbow bump? Greetings to avoid during the coronavirus outbreak”, in USA…. From the entry elbow bump
  • He and Joe did that bro-hug thing that guys did that was not quite a hug but was more than a handshake.2014, Erin Nicholas, Getting in the Spirit, →ISBN. From the entry bro-hug
  • For those uncertain in the protocol of handshaking a formula for the perfect handshake has been devised by scientists at the University of Manchester.2010 July 16, The Guardian. From the entry protocol
  • In their handshake we feel no understanding; we feel an indextrous hand that is not held to the equipment of our culture.2010, David Farrell Krell, David Wood, Exceedingly Nietzsche, page 66. From the entry indextrous
  • If Billy Lane hadn't given him such a firm handshake, Henry reckons he'd be wondering if all the Banana-benders shook like a girl.2007, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, page 137. From the entry banana bender
  • He tried to make friendly with some black guys who were new to the neighborhood but got limp handshakes and ice-cool eyes in return.2004, George Pelecanos, Hard Revolution, Waterville, Maine: Thorndike Press, Part 1, Chapter Eleven. From the entry make friendly
  • She says that she doesn't touch them, this is important, sometimes maybe a handshake may make them more shame, that is shy or embarrassed.1998, Robyn Lynn, Rosamund Thorpe, Debra Miles with Christine Cutts, Anne Butcher, Linda Ford, 'Murri way!': Aborigines and Torres Strait…. From the entry shame
  • The trade show’s organisers had attempted to allay concerns by announcing more stringent health and safety measures including a ban on handshakes, and taking attendees’ temperatures.2020 February 12, Mark Sweney, “Mobile World Congress axed after firms quit over coronavirus fears”, in The Guardian. From the entry allay
  • Wiping down surfaces with antiseptic, avoiding handshakes, and foregoing the kiss on the cheeks popular in Europe, are suggestions from world health bodies in response to the new virus.2020 March 5, Daniel Kaplan, “Could coronavirus stop sports rituals from autographs to tennis handshakes?”, in The Athletic, New York…. From the entry antiseptic
  • A signal that is not used by the population at large can be used by mutant members as a kind of secret handshake to identify an in-group.2012, Jan van Eijck, Rineke Verbrugge, Games, Actions, and Social Software: Multidisciplinary Aspects, page 176. From the entry secret handshake
  • After Lil Rocker hastily greeted me with a brotherly handshake and his spunkish smile, I quickly inquired as to where he was going in such a rush.2011, Mike Scott, Great American Youth: A True Saga, →ISBN, page 82. From the entry spunkish
  • Although, it is not a handshake I would readily reciprocate because my waking to such comprehension has been and is used for tormentuous affliction and mind control.2009, Alvin J. Moore, Visions of a Self-Named Prophet. From the entry tormentuous

Meaning of handshake

  1. noun The grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement.
  2. noun An exchange of signals between two devices when communications begin in order to ensure synchronization.
  3. verb To perform a handshake; to shake hands.

Full definition of handshake

Questions about handshake in a sentence

How do you use handshake in a sentence?
Handshake is used as a noun and verb. For example: “His father's affection never went further than a handshake or a clap on the shoulder.”
What is a short sentence with handshake?
“Instead of handshakes or high-fives, U.S.”
What does handshake mean?
Handshake means the grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handshake (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.

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