handkerchief
Americannoun
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a small piece of linen, silk, or other fabric, usually square, and used especially for wiping one's nose, eyes, face, etc., or for decorative purposes.
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a neckerchief or kerchief.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of handkerchief
Explanation
A handkerchief is a square of fabric that you can use to blow your nose. You can also tuck a handkerchief in the breast pocket of a suit, or wear it tied jauntily around your neck. You can call a handkerchief a "hanky," or just a kerchief, although this more often means "a square piece of cloth worn as a head covering." This last part of handkerchief comes from the Old French couvrechief, literally meaning "cover head," from couvrir, "cover," and chief, "head." So a handkerchief is a similar cloth held in the hand — to mop your brow or wipe your eyes.
Vocabulary lists containing handkerchief
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 4
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Shiloh
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"Growing Together" and "When I Grow Up"
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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:
And when the stormy morning after arrives, each peal of thunder sends Julia into a paroxysm of nerves that flings her around like a handkerchief caught in a stiff breeze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Afterwards Nawat appeared at a press conference wearing a tuxedo and openly weeping as he theatrically dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief, claiming he had been "betrayed".
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025
At one point, while giving his evidence, he became emotional while looking at photos and wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
The suspect wore black, his face covered by a handkerchief, Barrientos said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
Now we had only moments to scale the trunk, up to Camilla’s handkerchief drawer, for the journey on to London.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
With Trump’s planned attendance Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, some reporters have said they’ll wear pocket handkerchiefs or lapel pins prominently displaying the words of the First Amendment.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
Henry VIII, who reigned from 1509 to 1547, went through wives like handkerchiefs, in the process breaking with Rome and sparking the English Reformation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Once there, the players frantically waved white table handkerchiefs above their heads to a live rendition of Freed From Desire expertly played by the in-house saxophonist.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2025
The finale should run you through a pack of handkerchiefs, unless you are some sort of heartless monster.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025
Men began to wear their handkerchiefs in their sleeves and some foppish lieutenants carried swagger sticks.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
