armful

American  

[ahrm-fool] / ˈɑrmˌfʊl /

noun

• armfuls
  plural

1. as much as a person can hold or carry in an arm or both arms.

2. Informal. a girl or woman with a well-rounded figure.

3. Informal. an obstreperous child; handful.

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armful British  

/ ˈɑːmfʊl /

noun

1. the amount that can be held by one or both arms

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Spelling

See -ful.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• armfuls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of armful

First recorded in 1570–80; arm ¹ + -ful

Explanation

When you have an armful of something, you have as much as you can carry in your arms. An armful of wildflowers is probably enough to fill up a vase or two when you get home. An armful is an inexact amount, but a good way to describe the quantity of anything you can carry held against your body by your arms, or resting on your arms themselves. You might lug an armful of packages into the post office or leave an orchard with an armful of apples. The word armful dates from the late 16th century, from arm and the suffix -ful, "full of."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

armful armfuls

Standing by the DJ booth with an armful of shopping bags, a tourist named Paul told me that he and his son have taken several trips from the Philippines to the States.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

Or buying an armful of first editions of Denis’ work from Bonners Books.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026

Pictures from the scene showed dozens of people stood outside the stationary train, along with rescuers in high-vis jackets - one carrying an armful of bottled water.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2025

But he got sober, and in the years since, he got married, found a job as a creative writing professor at the University of Iowa and wrote poetry that won him an armful of awards.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2024

I give him a whole armful, maybe fifteen of the best of them by now.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Ahead of the concert, she visited a BTS pop-up store in Seoul and left with two armfuls of shopping bags.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

Big hauls of nominations don’t necessarily mean armfuls of trophies though.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024

Mall goers "were carrying a bag or two, not the armfuls that you would see in pre-pandemic years. They are not blowing the budget today."

From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2023

The store quietly closed in fall 2022 amid a rash of brazen shoplifting incidents where crooks would walk out with armfuls of merchandise, according to local NBC affiliate KGW-TV.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 10, 2023

Some of them were loaded down with armfuls of stuff.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey