handbreadth
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of handbreadth
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.
—A handbreadth of basis: thereon can one stand.
From Thus Spake Zarathustra A book for all and none by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
They had spread a handbreadth of mainsail, but the jib was blown out of the boltropes by one big swoop of wind and carried down to leeward, looking like a giant's shirt.
From Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod by Owen, R. Emmett (Robert Emmett)
The foam stood high about the hollowed, upswept bow, and at times boiled a handbreadth above the depressed waist, but, while the canoe swept on like a toboggan, none came in.
From The Gold Trail by Bindloss, Harold
It was like a dungeon, absolutely empty, with an uneven, earthen floor, quite dry, and high bare walls, gloomy, with a handbreadth of window high up.
From Sea and Sardinia by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
There is also a "long" cubit that is longer than a regular cubit by a handbreadth.
From The World English Bible (WEB): by Anonymous
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.
