[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/handful/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [H](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/h/) / handful # handful noun (a handful, handfuls) «handful» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. The amount you can hold in one hand: «a handful of sweets». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#m1) 2. A small number of people or things: «Only a handful of children came». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#m2) 3. (informal, a handful) A person or animal that is hard to control: «The puppy is a handful». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#m3) ### In the lessons In cooking and science, «a handful» is a rough, not exact, measure. In maths word problems «a handful» means only a few, not a fixed number. In everyday life «a real handful» describes a lively, naughty child or pet. Phrases: «a handful of», «a real handful». ### Examples - She grabbed a handful of popcorn. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x1) - Add a handful of nuts to the salad. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x2) - Only a handful of people came to the meeting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x3) - Our new puppy is a real handful! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x4) - He threw a handful of seeds to the birds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x5) - A handful of stars shone through the clouds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x6) - Twenty thousand Persian soldiers had fallen before that handful of men. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/#x7) ### Note Plural: handfuls (also handsful, rare). Spelling: one l at the end. «A handful» is never an exact number; in a maths problem you need the actual number. «A handful of» + plural noun: a handful of coins. ## In Jewish tradition It means the amount one hand can hold, as in the soot for the plague or a portion of the meal offering. The later books use it as a picture: a little quiet is better than hands full of toil, fallen bodies lie like stalks left behind by the reaper, and Ben-hadad boasts that Samaria's dust would not give his army a handful each. In the primary lessons: In cooking and science, «a handful» is a rough, not exact, measure. In maths word problems «a handful» means only a few, not a fixed number. In everyday life «a real handful» describes a lively, naughty child or pet. Phrases: «a handful of», «a real handful». ### Examples - And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron: 'Take to you handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moses throw it heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. (Torah EXO.9.8, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/#x1) - And the priest shall take a handful of the meal-offering, as the memorial-part thereof, and make it smoke upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. (Torah NUM.5.26, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/#x2) - Better is a handful of quietness, than both the hands full of labour and striving after wind. (Writings ECC.4.6, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/#x3) - Speak: Thus saith the LORD — And the carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, which none gathereth.' (Prophets JER.9.21, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/#x4) - And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said: 'The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.' (Prophets 1KI.20.10, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/#x5) ### Note Plural: handfuls (also handsful, rare). Spelling: one l at the end. «A handful» is never an exact number; in a maths problem you need the actual number. «A handful of» + plural noun: a handful of coins. ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «handful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handful/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«handful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/handful.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «handful» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/H/handful/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«handful» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/handful.html) on Mova free.