handful definition - Dictionary

Dictionary

hand·ful [ hánd fl ] (plural hand·fuls)

noun

Definition:

1. amount contained by hand: an amount that can be held in the hand

2. small amount or number: a small amount or number of people or things

Only a handful of students turned up for the lecture.

3. somebody or something difficult: somebody or something that is difficult to cope with or control ( informal )

Together those two are a real handful!

Cultural Note


	A Handful of Dust, a novel (1934) by British writer Evelyn Waugh. One of Waugh's early satires, it tells the story of Tony Last, a haughty country gentleman whose wife leaves him for a young socialite. His response is to set off on an ill-advised expedition to South America, where he ends up the captive of an eccentric local with a penchant for Dickens.