hand puppet

American

noun

a puppet made of a hollow head sewn or glued to material that fits over the hand, concealing the fingers and thumb, which manipulate it.

Etymology

Origin of hand puppet

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

You might even consider getting a hand puppet or small stuffed animal to assist.

From Slate • Aug. 13, 2021

When teaching the chicks to hunt and other crane behaviors, they dress in baggy costumes with the neck of a crane-head hand puppet holding in one loose, black-tipped “wing.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 14, 2021

Second place receives a fabulous soft rubbery hand puppet depicting a, well, some indeterminate aquatic creature; guesses included a shark, barracuda, alligator and dinosaur.

From Washington Post • Jul. 1, 2021

Any show that manages to get Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Barbra Streisand, Serena Williams and Melissa McCarthy with a rabbit hand puppet on stage is doing something right.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2019

Dr. Z popped up behind the center desk like a hand puppet.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023