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  • handed
    handed
    adjective
    having or involving a hand or hands (usually used in combination).
  • -handed
    -handed
    adjective
    having a hand or hands as specified

handed

American  
[han-did] / ˈhæn dɪd /

adjective

  1. having or involving a hand or hands (usually used in combination).

    two-handed backhand; a four-handed piano work.

  2. using a particular hand (usually used in combination).

    right-handed.

  3. having, requiring, or with the number of people, workers, or players indicated (usually used in combination).

    a three-handed game of poker.

  4. manned; staffed (usually used in combination).


-handed British  

adjective

  1. having a hand or hands as specified

    broad-handed

    a four-handed game of cards

  2. made as specified for either left- or right-hand operation or positioning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of handed

First recorded in 1520–30; hand + -ed 3

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.

It was the good fellows, easy and genial, daring, and, on occasion, mad, that I wanted to know—the fellows, generous-hearted and -handed, and not rabbit-hearted.

From John Barleycorn by London, Jack

Like Hollman, he had won a reputation for open -handed charity, and was liked—and hated.

From The Call of the Cumberlands by Buck, Charles Neville