handshaking
Americannoun
-
the act or practice of shaking hands.
Handshaking was discouraged during the pandemic to avoid transmission of the virus.
The traveler was sent off with many handshakings and words of advice.
noun
Etymology
Origin of handshaking
First recorded in 1970–75; handshake ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His physician also addressed bruising on his hand, which has been photographed during public events, as being "consistent with minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking" while taking aspirin for "cardiovascular prevention".
From BBC • May 30, 2026
Some historians have suggested that the rise of handshaking replaced hat-doffing, but Capp disagrees.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
To disguise the swelling caused by hours of handshaking, Volk suggested Lincoln grasp a sawed-off broomstick.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July that Trump had been diagnosed with CVI, and that his bruises were the result of “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.”
From Salon • Sep. 3, 2025
Longstreet took the limp palm, knowing the effort it cost the Englishman, who thought handshaking unnatural.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
