fistful
Americannoun
-
fistfuls
plural
Spelling
See -ful.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fistful
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.
See Examples For:
"When I was laid off... I was at a loss for a while," Zhang, 34, told AFP at the academy in Hunan province, handing a fistful of lightly charred kebabs to an instructor for review.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Shah boarded a plane, scooping a fistful of Iranian dirt on his way out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
Or a Mediterranean-ish sheet pan of squash, eggplant, and onions, finished with thin-sliced cucumbers and a fistful of herbs.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
After coming out of the water, some picked up fistful of the silver sand and rubbed it over their bodies.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
But, like a fistful of smoke, he is gone.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
Unfazed by the crashing waves, 72-year-old Wu Feng-chiao yanks fistfuls of brownish-purple seaweed she will process into jelly, one of the last women in Taiwan keeping the marine harvest tradition alive.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
From the 17th to 19th centuries, spaghetti was a popular street food in Naples, typically enjoyed with one’s bare hands in large fistfuls.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2026
I see Corey and Hailey and Colton and Hannah…all staring dead-eyed into their laptops, clutching fistfuls of hair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
They are reimbursed for expenses - conjuring images of them carrying around fistfuls of receipts and filling in claim sheets - but usually they will be collected from airports or stations.
From BBC ● May 21, 2024
She remembered how the breeze sent the fistfuls of dirty brown hair skittering across the paving stones, toward the sept where her father had died.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
