handed
adjective
handed
American
[han-did]
/ ˈhæn dɪd /
adjective
-
having or involving a hand or hands (usually used in combination).
two-handed backhand; a four-handed piano work.
-
using a particular hand (usually used in combination).
right-handed.
-
having, requiring, or with the number of people, workers, or players indicated (usually used in combination).
a three-handed game of poker.
-
manned; staffed (usually used in combination).
-handed
British
adjective
-
having a hand or hands as specified
broad-handed
a four-handed game of cards
-
made as specified for either left- or right-hand operation or positioning
Etymology
Origin of handed
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.
The Supreme Court handed down a perplexing 5–4 decision on Thursday in Hamm v.
From Slate • May 23, 2026
St. Louis might not have been handed a chance to test his coaching chops in the NHL so soon if Montreal hadn’t imploded in such spectacular fashion.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Corvette, a promising and hard-working designer herself who aspires to Christie’s brilliance, is tormented by nightmares of rich people complaining about the generation who “can’t expect everything to be handed to them.”
From Salon • May 22, 2026
Emma Raducanu has been handed a tricky first-round test at the French Open against Argentine clay-court specialist Solana Sierra.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
He handed me one and I sat up and poured tea from my thermos into my cup and his and we drank the tea and dunked the cookies and did not talk but just sat.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
