handful

American  

[hand-fool] / ˈhænd fʊl /

noun

• handfuls
  plural

1. the quantity or amount that the hand can hold.

   a handful of coins.

2. a small amount, number, or quantity.

   a handful of men.

3. Informal. a person or thing that is as much as one can manage or control.

   The baby's tantrums made him a handful.

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handful British  

/ ˈhændfʊl /

noun

1. the amount or number that can be held in the hand

2. a small number or quantity

3. informal a person or thing difficult to manage or control

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Spelling

See -ful.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• handfuls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of handful

before 900; Middle English, Old English. See hand, -ful

Explanation

A handful is just a little of something, or the amount you can hold in your hand. It can be a literal handful, like a handful of popcorn, or it can mean just a few, like a handful of trucks. You might find yourself eating handfuls of raspberries when you're supposed to be picking them to make jam. Another meaning of handful is "just a few," as in "There are only a handful of dogs at the dog park this morning." And a third way to use this word is to mean "incredibly difficult to handle." If your mom says, "You were a handful when you were a toddler," she means you were not easy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handful handfuls

During job interviews, he said, recruiters at Microsoft, Google and Uber asked about the handful of courses he took in technology and the humanities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Even the handful of beautiful, hand-painted practical backgrounds seem to be laden with implied allegory.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

Bank of Montreal, one of a handful of big lenders that together control most of Canada’s banking assets, recorded a total provision for credit losses of C$722 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

By August 19, France had experienced 52 days under heatwave conditions since mid-June, with only a handful of cooler days to break them up -- a record-breaking figure with summer not even over yet.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Wolf wriggled and snapped until Torak manage to explain that he had to stay with Renn, who settled the matter by producing a handful of dried lingonberries from her food pouch.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Dozens of Khan supporters gathered near the private hospital, while others flung handfuls of red flower petals at passing cars.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

"We call it rotting out," says Fererro, now wearing a white laboratory coat as he adds handfuls of seagrass to the Calshot tank.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

While other children were reaching for fruit snacks, I was sneaking handfuls of Castelvetranos from the appetizer tray.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

It was, in effect, a couple of handfuls of stocks stuffed into a can and then left undisturbed for at least 10 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

So I scoop up shaky handfuls and empty them on his fists.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins