HANDFUL

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quantity that can be held in the hand

Synonyms:

fistful; handful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("handful" is a kind of...):

containerful (the quantity that a container will hold)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small number or amount

Example:

only a handful of responses were received

Synonyms:

handful; smattering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("handful" is a kind of...):

small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)

Credits

Context examples:

The next time you’re hungry for a snack, you may want to grab a handful of nuts, as new research suggests they lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

(Daily Handful of Nuts Reduces Disease Risk, VOA)

I saw ripe bilberries gleaming here and there, like jet beads in the heath: I gathered a handful and ate them with the bread.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Rare species tend to cluster in a handful of hotspots, such as the Northern Andes in South America, Costa Rica, South Africa, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.

(Nearly 40% of plant species are very rare, and vulnerable to climate change, National Science Foundation)

A handful of villainous half-breeds dominated the country, armed such Indians as would support them, and turned the rest into slaves, terrorizing them with the most inhuman tortures in order to force them to gather the india-rubber, which was then floated down the river to Para.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While results from the spacecraft's suite of instruments will be released down the road, a handful of images from Juno's visible light imager — JunoCam — are expected to be released the next couple of weeks.

(Juno Successfully Completes Jupiter Flyby, NASA)

He came back with a handful of wild garlic from the box waiting in the hall, but which had not been opened, and placed the flowers amongst the others on and around the bed.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"I ain't been trailed this way by wolves before, but I've gone through a whole lot worse an' kept my health. Takes more'n a handful of them pesky critters to do for yours truly, Bill, my son."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

For the handful of exoplanets with stratospheres, the absorber is typically thought to be a molecule such as titanium oxide, a close relative of titanium dioxide, used on Earth as a paint pigment and sunscreen ingredient.

(WASP-18b Has Smothering Stratosphere Without Water, NASA)

A handful of telescopes deployed by the New Horizons team in a remote part of Patagonia, Argentina were in the right place at the right time to catch its fleeting shadow — an event known as an occultation – and were able to capture important data to help mission flyby planners better determine the spacecraft trajectory and understand the size, shape, orbit and environment around MU69.

(New Horizons' Next Target Just Got a Lot More Interesting, NASA)

He wanted to run out, but she held him by the arm, and gave him a handful of ducats.