handbreadth

American  

[hand-bredth, -bretth] / ˈhændˌbrɛdθ, -ˌbrɛtθ /

Also hand'sbreadth

noun

1. a unit of linear measure from 2½ to 4 inches (6.4 to 10 centimeters).

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handbreadth British  

/ ˈhændˌbrɛtθ, -ˌbrɛdθ /

noun

1. the width of a hand used as an indication of length

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Etymology

Origin of handbreadth

First recorded in 1525–35; hand + breadth

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handbreadth

Then I looked down again carefully, searching every handbreadth for a firm foothold or path down the rocks, with an opening at the end, through which a big man could squeeze his body.

From Jim Davis by John Masefield

There was not a handbreadth of shade anywhere, and the iron handles and girds of the barred windows were nearly red-hot.

From The Firebrand by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

In a hundred years, not one handbreadth of all those vineyards will belong to those who rake and dig there.

From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Berthold Auerbach

Is it that His 'years are throughout all generations,' and 'my days are as an handbreadth'?

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John by Alexander Maclaren

And when the perfect fruition is come, and we enter into the great spaces of Eternity, it will seem as an handbreadth.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Isaiah and Jeremiah by Alexander Maclaren