A touching, controlling, managing, using, etc., with the hand or hands, or as with the hands. See Handle, v. t.

a metal loop that can be locked around the wrist, usually used in pairs; a handcuff.

Manufactured by hand; as, handmade shoes. Contrasted with machine-made.

A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.

A football play in which one player hands the ball to a teammate.

The act of relinquishing property or authority etc. to another; as, the handover of occupied territory to the original posssessors; the handover of power from the military back to the civilian authorities.

a rail{1} at the side of staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling; -- shaped so as to be conveniently gripped with the hand; as, please hold onto the handrail when crossing the walkway.

a support for the hand.

a person's power or discretionary action; as, my fate is in your hands.

A saw used with one hand.

any unit of length based on the breadth of the human hand.

To give a handsel to.

The mouthpiece and earpiece of a communications device mounted on a single handle; as, when the telephone rings, pick up the handset.

sewn by hand rather than machine.

To render handsome.

In a handsome manner.

The quality of being handsome.

A bar or lever, generally of wood, used in a windlass or capstan, for heaving anchor, and, in modified forms, for various purposes.

A somersault made with the assistance of the hands placed upon the ground.

The gymnastic act of supporting oneself by one's hands alone in an upside down position; as, to do handstands for exercise.

same as handsewn.

to wash by hand, launder by hand; -- contrasted to machine-wash.

clothing for the hands, especially gloves.

Any wheel worked by hand; esp., one the rim of which serves as the handle by which a valve, car brake, or other part is adjusted.

same as hand-loomed; as, a handwoven tablecloth.

The cast or form of writing peculiar to each hand or person; chirography.

Performed by the hand.

A child's play, one child guessing in which closed hand the other holds some small object, winning the object if right and forfeiting an equivalent if wrong; hence, forfeit.

A fight with the hands; boxing.

Seizure by, or grasp of, the hand; also, close quarters in fighting.

A blow with the hand.

See Handiwork.

The manner in which one part or thing hangs upon, or is connected with, another; as, the hang of a scythe.

A dependent; a hanger-on; -- so called in contempt.

a large building at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained.

The Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula); -- so called because its nest is suspended from the limb of a tree. See Baltimore oriole.

Low; sneaking; ashamed.

One who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman.

One who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service; a dependent; one who adheres to others' society longer than he is wanted.

The act of suspending anything; the state of being suspended.

One who hangs another; esp., one who makes a business of hanging; a public executioner; -- sometimes used as a term of reproach, without reference to office.

The office or character of a hangman.

A small piece or sliver of skin which hangs loose, near the root of a finger nail.

A nest that hangs like a bag or pocket.

An unpleasant feeling, such as a headache, occurring as an aftereffect from the use of drugs (especially alcohol).

To fasten with a rope, as a gate.

To long (for) with a keen appetite and uneasiness; to have a vehement desire; -- usually with for or after; as, to hanker after fruit; to hanker after the diversions of the town.

In a hankering manner.

Professional cant; the chatter of conjurers to divert attention from their tricks; hence, jugglery.

Same as handkerchief.

Same as handkerchief.

the English royal house that reigned from 1714 to 1901.

A native or naturalized inhabitant of Hanover; one of the House of Hanover.

See 2d Hanse.

A merchant of one of the Hanse towns. See the Note under 2d Hanse.

An association; a league or confederacy.

Pertaining to the Hanse towns, or to their confederacy.

See Handsel.

A sort of breeches.

A light, low, two-wheeled covered carriage with the driver's seat elevated behind, the reins being passed over the top.

See Hoonoomaun.

A leafless East Indian vine (Sarcostemma acidum); its sour milky juice was formerly used to make an intoxicating drink.

To happen; to befall; to chance.

Extra hazard; chance; accident; random.

Determined by chance, whimsy, or guesswork; unplanned; aimless; random; -- used mostly of human actions.

One of the lessons from the Nebiim (or Prophets) read in the Jewish synagogue on Sabbaths, feast days, fasts, and the ninth of Ab, at the end of the service, after the parashoth, or lessons from the Law. Such a practice is evidenced in Luke iv.17 and Acts xiii.15.

Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.

In a hapless, unlucky manner.

having half the number of chromosomes normally present in somatic cells; having only one chromosome of each type, and therefore having only one complete set of genes; Contrasted with diploid and polyploid. See also diploid.

An order of freshwater fishes, including the true pikes, cyprinodonts, and blindfishes.

A parasite in invertebrates and lower vertebrates of no known economic importance.

Having but one series of stamens, and that equal in number to the proper number of petals; isostemonous.

By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.

Wrapped; covered; cloaked.

To come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out.

something that happens; an occurrence; an event.

By chance; peradventure; haply.

Good luck; good fortune; prosperity.

Favored by hap, luck, or fortune; lucky; fortunate; successful; prosperous; satisfying desire; as, a happy expedient; a happy effort; a happy venture; a happy omen.

relating to or based on the sense of touch.

A large and valuable food fish (Polyprion prognathus) of New Zealand. It sometimes weighs one hundred pounds or more.

See Hagbut.

A ritual form of suicide, by slashing the abdomen, formerly practiced in Japan, and commanded by the government in the cases of disgraced officials; disembowelment; -- also written, but incorrectly, hari-kari.

To address by an harangue.

Full of harangue.

One who harangues, or is fond of haranguing; a declaimer.

Devastation; waste.

troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances; as, harassed working mothers.

One who harasses.

The act of harassing, or state of being harassed; worry; annoyance; anxiety.

Harborous.

To usher in; to be a harbinger of.

To lodge, or abide for a time; to take shelter, as in a harbor.

Shelter; entertainment.

One who, or that which, harbors.

Without a harbor; shelterless.

Hospitable.

A shelter.

A ford or passage across a river or swamp.

Contained within the circuitry of a computer or computer peripheral device, and not changeable by programming; -- of functions; as, error correction is hard-wired into the circuit of the disk drive, so it proceeds very rapidly.

invariable; firmly established; as, hard-and-fast regulations.

baked until hard.

same as hard-bitten.

not given to sentimentality or gentleness; -- of people; as, a hard-bitten character.

Having rigid front and back covers, usually boards covered with paper, cloth, or leather; -- of books. Contrasted with softcover and paperback.

Hard-featured; ill-looking; as, Vulcan was hard-favored.

Coarseness of features.

Having coarse, unattractive or stern features.

Having hard or strong hands; as, a hard-fisted laborer.

Vigorously contested by both opponents; -- of contests; as, a hard-fought battle; a hard-fought primary election.

Having hard hands, as a manual laborer.

Having sound judgment; sagacious; shrewd; practical and pragmatic.

Unsympathetic; inexorable; cruel; pitiless.

characterized by or full of force and vigor; forceful; as, a hard-hitting expose.

Wrought with severe labor; elaborate; studied.

Not sensible to the bit; not easily governed; as, a hard-mouthed horse.

facing reality squarely; guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; tough and pragmatic; as, a hard-nosed businessman.

having a reduced ability to hear, but not fully deaf; partly deaf.

An erect penis; a penile erection.

facing or experiencing trouble or difficulty; as, financially hard-pressed Mexican hotels are lowering their prices; they were hard-pressed to find a substitute on short notice; -- see distressed{1}.