hankie

noun

han·​kie ˈhaŋ-kē How to pronounce hankie (audio)
variants or hanky
plural hankies

Examples of hankie in a Sentence

held a hankie up to his nose and blew vigorously
Recent Examples on the Web Related: Best Pie Recipes for Any Occasion 3 Handkerchief Bunting Kids will love helping set the mood for merriment by folding vintage hankies in half diagonally and hanging them on lengths of sturdy jute twine using small wooden clothespins. Charlyne Mattox, Country Living, 24 June 2023 Threads fly and snag over the grid of hankies, and become their own calligraphy. Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Apr. 2023 But first, grab a hankie. refinery29.com, 21 Nov. 2021 Titanic remains a four-hankie crowd-pleaser par excellence, elevating a paper-thin love story to the scale of myth by placing it against the backdrop of incalculable human tragedy. A.a. Dowd, Chron, 9 Feb. 2023 Pulling a hankie out To wipe your brow surreptitiously. Hannah Aizenman, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023 From the corner of his eye, Williams could see the umpire reaching for his yellow hankie before Dak could even round the corner on his scramble. Dallas News, 3 Jan. 2022 Spoiler Alert potentially has a shot at appeal beyond that niche, particularly with audiences starved for a genuinely moving, pleasingly old-fashioned four-hankie tearjerker whose sentiments are backed by lived experience. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Nov. 2022 Anyone offended by your costume can comfort themselves with a gin and tonic while wiping their tears with an Hermès hankie. Alden Wicker, refinery29.com, 16 Oct. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hankie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

handkerchief + -ie

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hankie was in 1878

Dictionary Entries Near hankie

Cite this Entry

“Hankie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hankie. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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