handwriting
[ hand-rahy-ting ]
/ ˈhændˌraɪ tɪŋ /
noun
writing done with a pen or pencil in the hand; script.
a style or manner of writing by hand, especially that which characterizes a particular person; penmanship: an eccentric handwriting.
a handwritten document; manuscript.
Nearby words
handwheel, handwork, handwoven, handwringing, handwrite, handwriting, handwriting on the wall, handwritten, handwrought, handy, handy, w. c.
Idioms
handwriting on the wall, a premonition, portent, or clear indication, especially of failure or disaster: The company had ignored the handwriting on the wall and was plunged into bankruptcy.Also writing on the wall.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for writing on the wall
handwriting
/ (ˈhændˌraɪtɪŋ) /
noun
writing by hand rather than by typing or printing
a person's characteristic writing stylethat signature is in my handwriting
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
Word Origin and History for writing on the wall
handwriting
c.1500, from hand (n.) + writing, translating Latin manuscriptum. Hand in the sense of "handwriting, style of writing" is from late 14c.
An ordinary note in his [Horace Greeley's] handwriting is said to have been used for a long time as a railroad pass, then as a servant's recommendation, and finally taken to a drug-store as a doctor's prescription. ["Frank Leslie's Magazine," August 1884]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with writing on the wall
writing on the wall
see handwriting on the wall.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.