handful

Everyday

1. The amount you can hold in one hand: «a handful of sweets». tree →
2. A small number of people or things: «Only a handful of children came». tree →
3. (informal, a handful) A person or animal that is hard to control: «The puppy is a handful». tree →

In the lessons

In cooking and science, «a handful» is a rough, not exact, measure. In maths word problems «a handful» means only a few, not a fixed number. In everyday life «a real handful» describes a lively, naughty child or pet. Phrases: «a handful of», «a real handful».

Examples

• She grabbed a handful of popcorn. tree →
• Add a handful of nuts to the salad. tree →
• Only a handful of people came to the meeting. tree →
• Our new puppy is a real handful! tree →
• He threw a handful of seeds to the birds. tree →
• A handful of stars shone through the clouds. tree →
• Twenty thousand Persian soldiers had fallen before that handful of men. tree →

Note

Plural: handfuls (also handsful, rare). Spelling: one l at the end. «A handful» is never an exact number; in a maths problem you need the actual number. «A handful of» + plural noun: a handful of coins.

In Jewish tradition

It means the amount one hand can hold, as in the soot for the plague or a portion of the meal offering. The later books use it as a picture: a little quiet is better than hands full of toil, fallen bodies lie like stalks left behind by the reaper, and Ben-hadad boasts that Samaria's dust would not give his army a handful each. In the primary lessons: In cooking and science, «a handful» is a rough, not exact, measure. In maths word problems «a handful» means only a few, not a fixed number. In everyday life «a real handful» describes a lively, naughty child or pet. Phrases: «a handful of», «a real handful».

Examples

• And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron: 'Take to you handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moses throw it heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. (Torah EXO.9.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the priest shall take a handful of the meal-offering, as the memorial-part thereof, and make it smoke upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. (Torah NUM.5.26, JPS 1917) tree →
• Better is a handful of quietness, than both the hands full of labour and striving after wind. (Writings ECC.4.6, JPS 1917) tree →
• Speak: Thus saith the LORD — And the carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, which none gathereth.' (Prophets JER.9.21, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said: 'The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.' (Prophets 1KI.20.10, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Plural: handfuls (also handsful, rare). Spelling: one l at the end. «A handful» is never an exact number; in a maths problem you need the actual number. «A handful of» + plural noun: a handful of coins.