handful

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hand·ful

(hănd′fo͝ol′)

n. pl. hand·fuls

1. The amount that a hand can hold.

2. A small, undefined number or quantity: only a handful of people on the street.

3. Informal One that is difficult to control or handle: The hyperactive toddler is a real handful.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

handful

(ˈhændfʊl)

n, pl -fuls

1. the amount or number that can be held in the hand

2. a small number or quantity

3. informal a person or thing difficult to manage or control

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hand•ful

(ˈhænd fʊl)

n., pl. -fuls.

1. the quantity or amount that the hand can hold.

2. a small amount or quantity.

3. Informal. a person or thing that is as much as one can manage or control.

[before 900]

Handful

a quantity that would fill a hand; a small company or number—Wilkes.

Examples: handful of days, 1633; of men, 1525; of straw, 1489; of wit, 1536; of words, 1876.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	handful - a small number or amount; "only a handful of responses were received" smattering small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity - an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude
	2.	handful - the quantity that can be held in the hand fistful containerful - the quantity that a container will hold

handful

noun few, sprinkling, small amount, small quantity, smattering, small number a handful of potential investors
few a lot, scores, loads (informal), crowd, masses (informal), plenty, stacks, mob, heaps, horde, large quantity, large number

1. nuisance, bother, pest, pain in the neck (informal), pain in the backside (informal) Zara can be a handful sometimes.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

حَفْنَهشَخْص صَعْب السَّيْطَرَة عليهعَدَد قَليل

hrsthrstkapěkné kvítkorarášek

fåhåndfuld

kourallinen

maréknyi

handfyllilítilræîi; fáeinar sálirsem lætur illa aî stjórn

indisciplinato manciata pugno

håndfull neve uhåndterlig ting villstyring

garść

горстка горсть пригоршня

hrsťhŕstkapekný kvietokšibal

peščicaprgišče

handfull

avuçbir avuççok az sayıdaele avuca sığmaz

一把少数难控制的人

handful

[ˈhændfʊl] N (= quantity) → manojo m, puñado m; (= small number) → puñado m
a handful of people → un puñado de gente
that child's a real handful → ese niño es muy travieso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

handful

[ˈhændfʊl] n

(= small number) a handful of [+ people] → une poignée de, un petit nombre de; [+ places, buildings] → quelques
There was only a handful of people at the concert → Il n'y avait qu'une poignée de gens au concert.
a handful of times → à quelques rares occasions

(= contents of the hand) → poignée f
a handful of soil → une poignée de terre

(= nuisance)
She's quite a handful → Elle n'est pas de tout repos.hand grenade n → grenade f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

handful

→ Hand f → voll; (of hair, fur) → Büschel nt; a handful of soil → eine Handvoll Erde; by the handful, in handfuls → händeweise; (hair, fur) → büschelweise

(= small number) → Hand f → voll

(fig) those children are a handful → die Kinder können einen ganz schön in Trab halten; his new girl’s quite a handful (hum) → an seiner neuen Freundin ist ganz hübsch was dran (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

handful

[ˈhændfʊl] n (quantity) → manciata, pugno
a handful of people → uno sparuto gruppo di persone
that child's a real handful (fam) → quel bambino è proprio un terremoto

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

hand

(hӕnd) noun

1. the part of the body at the end of the arm.

2. a pointer on a clock, watch etc. Clocks usually have an hour hand and a minute hand.

3. a person employed as a helper, crew member etc. a farm hand; All hands on deck!

4. help; assistance. Can I lend a hand?; Give me a hand with this box, please.

5. a set of playing-cards dealt to a person. I had a very good hand so I thought I had a chance of winning.

6. a measure (approximately centimetres) used for measuring the height of horses. a horse of 14 hands.

7. handwriting. written in a neat hand.

verb

(often with back, ~down, ~up etc).

1. to give (something) to someone by hand. I handed him the book; He handed it back to me; I'll go up the ladder, and you can hand the tools up to me.

2. to pass, transfer etc into another's care etc. That is the end of my report from Paris. I'll now hand you back to Fred Smith in the television studio in London.

ˈhandful noun

1. as much as can be held in one hand. a handful of sweets.

2. a small number. Only a handful of people came to the meeting.

3. a person etc difficult to control. Her three children are a (bit of a) handful.

ˈhandbag noun

(American usually purse) a small bag carried by women, for personal belongings.

ˈhandbill noun

a small printed notice.

ˈhandbook noun

a small book giving information about (how to do) something. a handbook of European birds; a bicycle-repair handbook.

ˈhandbrake noun

(in a car, bus etc) a brake operated by the driver's hand.

ˈhandcuff verb

to put handcuffs on (a person). The police handcuffed the criminal.

ˈhandcuffs noun plural

steel rings, joined by a short chain, put round the wrists of prisoners. a pair of handcuffs.

ˈhand-lens noun

a magnifying-glass held in the hand.

ˌhandˈmade adjective

made with a person's hands or with tools held in the hands, rather than by machines. hand-made furniture.

hand-ˈoperated adjective

hand-operated switches.

ˈhand-outhand outbelowˌhand-ˈpicked adjective

chosen very carefully. a hand-picked team of workers.

ˈhandshake noun

the act of grasping (a person's) hand eg as a greeting.

ˈhandstand noun

the gymnastic act of balancing one's body upright in the air with one's hands on the ground.

ˈhandwriting noun

1. writing with a pen or pencil. Today we will practise handwriting.

2. the way in which a person writes. Your handwriting is terrible!

ˈhandwritten adjective

The letter was handwritten, not typed.

at hand

1. (with close or near) near. The bus station is close at hand.

2. available. Help is at hand.

at the hands of

from, or by the action of. He received very rough treatment at the hands of the terrorists.

be hand in glove (with someone)

to be very closely associated with someone, especially for a bad purpose.

by hand

1. with a person's hand or tools held in the hands, rather than with machinery. furniture made by hand.

2. not by post but by a messenger etc. This parcel was delivered by hand.

fall into the hands (of someone)

to be caught, found, captured etc by someone. He fell into the hands of bandits; The documents fell into the wrong hands (= were found, captured etc by someone who was not supposed to see them).

force someone's hand

to force someone to do something either which he does not want to do or sooner than he wants to do it.

get one's hands on

1. to catch. If I ever get my hands on him, I'll make him sorry for what he did!

2. to get or obtain. I'd love to get my hands on a car like that.

give/lend a helping hand

to help or assist. I'm always ready to give/lend a helping hand.

hand down

to pass on from one generation to the next. These customs have been handed down from father to son since the Middle Ages.

hand in

to give or bring to a person, place etc. The teacher told the children to hand in their exercise-books.

hand in hand

with one person holding the hand of another. The boy and girl were walking along hand in hand; Poverty and crime go hand in hand.

hand on

to give to someone. When you have finished reading these notes, hand them on to me.

hand out

to give to several people; to distribute. The teacher handed out books to all the pupils; They were handing out leaflets in the street.

hand-out noun

a leaflet.

handout noun

1. a leaflet or a copy of a piece of paper with information given to students in class, distributed at a meeting etc. You'll find the diagram on page four of your handout.

2. money, clothes etc given to a very poor person or a beggar.

hand over

to give or pass; to surrender. We know you have the jewels, so hand them over; They handed the thief over to the police.

hand over fist

in large amounts, usually quickly. He's making money hand over fist.

hands down

very easily. You'll win hands down.

hands off!

do not touch!.

hands-on adjective

practical; involving active participation. hands-on experience with computers.

hands up!

raise your hands above your head. `Hands up!' shouted the gunman.

hand to hand with one individual fighting another at close quarters: The soldiers fought the enemy hand to hand; () adjective (etc)

hand-to-hand fighting.

have a hand in (something)

to be one of the people who have caused, done etc (something). Did you have a hand in the building of this boat / in the success of the project?

have/get/gain the upper hand

to (begin to) win, beat the enemy etc. The enemy made a fierce attack but failed to get the upper hand.

hold hands (with someone)

to be hand in hand with someone. The boy and girl walked along holding hands (with each other).

in good hands

receiving care and attention. The patient is in good hands.

in hand

1. not used etc; remaining. We still have $10 in hand.

2. being dealt with. We have received your complaint and the matter is now in hand.

in the hands of

being dealt with by. This matter is now in the hands of my solicitor.

keep one's hand in

to remain good or skilful at doing something by doing it occasionally. I still sometimes play a game of billiards, just to keep my hand in.

off one's hands

no longer needing to be looked after etc. You'll be glad to get the children off your hands for a couple of weeks.

on hand

near; present; ready for use etc. We always keep some candles on hand in case there's a power failure.

(on the one hand) … on the other hand

an expression used to introduce two opposing parts of an argument etc. (On the one hand) we could stay and help you, but on the other hand, it might be better if we went to help him instead.

out of hand

unable to be controlled. The angry crowd was getting out of hand.

shake hands with (someone) / shake someone's hand

to grasp a person's (usually right) hand, in one's own (usually right) hand, as a form of greeting, as a sign of agreement etc.

a show of hands

at a meeting, debate etc, a vote expressed by people raising their hands.

take in hand

to look after, discipline or train.

to hand

here; easily reached. All the tools you need are to hand.

handful

n. puñado, manojo.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"We are a handful of private citizens of America, traveling simply

View in context

The spectacle was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage.

View in context

He was withered, and blind, and senile, gibbering and mowing like some huge ape as ever he turned and twisted, and twisted back again, the suspended head in the pungent smoke, and handful by handful added rotten punk of wood to the smudge fire.

View in context

So she made a fire on her hearth, and that it might burn the quicker, she lighted it with a handful of straw.

View in context

Bruno took a good handful of mane in each hand, and made believe to guide this new kind of steed.

View in context

They found themselves a mere handful of men, on a savage coast, surrounded by hostile tribes, who would doubtless be incited and encouraged to deeds of violence by the late fearful catastrophe.

View in context

He noted the extreme care which the woman took that none of the matter should touch her hands, and once when a particle spattered upon one of her fingers he saw her plunge the member into a vessel of water and quickly rub the tiny stain away with a handful of leaves.

View in context

But no, these must be only a handful of scoundrels.

View in context

He dipped into a side coat-pocket for the mintage of the Solomons and stripped off a stick from the handful of pressed sticks.

View in context

Then, when our ammunition was gone and the Klondiker, still somewhat sober, began to babble again of Milly, Kraft whispered into his ear such a polite, barbed insult relating to people who were miserly with their funds, that the miner crashed down handful after handful of silver and notes, calling for all the fluids in the world to drown the imputation.

View in context

A strange name wakes up memories; the printed words scent the smoky atmosphere of to-day faintly, with the subtle and penetrating perfume as of land breezes breathing through the starlight of bygone nights; a signal fire gleams like a jewel on the high brow of a sombre cliff; great trees, the advanced sentries of immense forests, stand watchful and still over sleeping stretches of open water; a line of white surf thunders on an empty beach, the shallow water foams on the reefs; and green islets scattered through the calm of noonday lie upon the level of a polished sea, like a handful of emeralds on a buckler of steel.

View in context

There was yet a fertile strip of time wherein to sow my last handful of the wild oats of youth.