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Showing results for "handed"
  • past tense form of hand.
  • past participle of hand.
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  • handed
    handed
    adjective
    having or involving a hand or hands (usually used in combination).
  • -handed
    -handed
    adjective
    having a hand or hands as specified

handed

American  
[han-did] / ˈhæn dɪd /

adjective

  1. having or involving a hand or hands (usually used in combination).

    two-handed backhand; a four-handed piano work.

  2. using a particular hand (usually used in combination).

    right-handed.

  3. having, requiring, or with the number of people, workers, or players indicated (usually used in combination).

    a three-handed game of poker.

  4. manned; staffed (usually used in combination).


-handed British  

adjective

  1. having a hand or hands as specified

    broad-handed

    a four-handed game of cards

  2. made as specified for either left- or right-hand operation or positioning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of handed

First recorded in 1520–30; hand + -ed 3

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:

Next week, host Susan Matthews joins Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern to discuss the blockbuster decisions handed down in June—and Gorsuch’s role in them.

From Slate Aug. 22, 2026

After an emotional 11-week trial, judge Matthew Nicklin sided with the publisher in a ruling handed down on July 7, concluding the "claimants failed to prove their pleaded allegations".

From Barron's Aug. 21, 2026

She handed out copies of her longtime friend Madonna’s new album to the studio audience, told stories about ordinary life and looked completely at home.

From Salon Aug. 20, 2026

That came after staff from local fish and chip shop Penalunas, in Hirwaun, handed out free food to firefighters tackling the blaze until 03:00 BST on Saturday.

From BBC Aug. 19, 2026

She got two books off a nearby cart and handed them to me, along with two more strips of craft paper, these hot pink.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Like Hollman, he had won a reputation for open -handed charity, and was liked—and hated.

From The Call of the Cumberlands by Charles Neville Buck

It was the good fellows, easy and genial, daring, and, on occasion, mad, that I wanted to know—the fellows, generous-hearted and -handed, and not rabbit-hearted.

From John Barleycorn by Jack London

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