fistful

[ fist-fool ]

noun

, plural fist·fuls.

1. a handful:

   a fistful of pennies.

Spelling Note

See -ful.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fistful¹

First recorded in 1605–15; fist ¹ + -ful

Example Sentences

A fistful of dollars in his pocket, Mike—who once had a family himself, now long gone—heads across the border.

From Time

You can add a pinch of this and a fistful of that when cooking, but accurate measuring is a must for baking cakes, bread, pastries, and pies.

From Popular-Science

Before marching into the home store with a fistful of cash, think about where you want to mount it and how you’ll use it.

From Popular-Science

Baric was a top expert in coronaviruses, with hundreds of papers to his credit, and Shi, along with her team at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, had been discovering them by the fistful in bat caves.

From MIT Technology Review

The NCAA has a fistful of colossal sponsorship and media deals.

From Washington Post

Brown continued sauntering along, still holding a fistful of cigarillos on each hand.

From The Daily Beast

The models walked with a fistful of red roses, tenderly tossing them onto the bed-bound boys as they turned a corner.

From The Daily Beast

As he stood at the defense table with a fistful of papers, he gave his baggy red pants a tug to keep them up.

From The Daily Beast

And he reached his hand inside the sack on his back, and pulled out a fistful of bright gold pennies—oh, such a lot of them!

From Project Gutenberg

Justin handed a fistful of shells to the Factor, then proceeded unconcernedly to the water's edge.

From Project Gutenberg

The door opened and Bart grabbed a fistful of bed-ticking as two Lhari came into the room.

From Project Gutenberg

“A mistake,” said Aunt Jessica, shaking the dirt vigorously from a fistful of sorrel.

From Project Gutenberg

The General picked up a fistful of the documents which had cost the life of Fernando Rivas.

From Project Gutenberg