noun · informal
hand
/hænd/HAND
Band 5-6speakingtask2
the part of the body at the end of the arm; in idioms, 'a small number or amount'
Examples
“Only a handful of students passed the exam.”
“She raised her hand to ask a question.”
“The machine was hand-operated rather than automatic.”
Band 8 sentence
“In urban areas, only a handful of historic buildings remain unchanged after decades of development.”
Collocations
- a handful of
- raise your hand
- hand operation / hand-operated
Word family
handful nhandless adjhandmade adj
Common mistakes
Only handful of people attended.→Only a handful of people attended.
He was handless after the accident.→He lost his hands after the accident. / He was left without hands after the accident.
Say it for a higher band
5few→6a few→7+hand
Synonyms
few
palm
Easily confused
handful vs handless
“Only a handful of volunteers showed up for the beach clean-up.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -ful / -less
Learn it with its set