variants
also handsful
as in couples
a small number
only a handful of people signed up for the wintertime hike
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Recent Examples of handfuls
Sprinkle a few handfuls of wood ashes around your hydrangea in early spring and water it in.
—
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2026
Police said three masked suspects committed that robbery and pepper-sprayed an employee before escaping with handfuls of merchandise.
—Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
Greenfield recalled eating handfuls of berries in Olympic National Forest.
—Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Try massaging a few handfuls of kale with this amount of olive oil before adding the greens to a salad, said Elizabeth Traxler, MS, RDN, LD, an outpatient clinical dietitian at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
—Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 8 Dec. 2025
Not just a strand here and there but handfuls dragged across the branches.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Taking handfuls of the cooled spinach, squeeze out as much water as possible, then coarsely chop.
—Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Dec. 2025
After the win was sealed, Gophers players raced to the Axe in the west end zone as fans threw handfuls of snow in the air in celebration.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 29 Nov. 2025
Ritchson, showrunner Nick Santo and producer Don Granger have all the read the books two handfuls of times.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 11 Nov. 2025
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2026
Police said three masked suspects committed that robbery and pepper-sprayed an employee before escaping with handfuls of merchandise.
—Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
Greenfield recalled eating handfuls of berries in Olympic National Forest.
—Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Try massaging a few handfuls of kale with this amount of olive oil before adding the greens to a salad, said Elizabeth Traxler, MS, RDN, LD, an outpatient clinical dietitian at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
—Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 8 Dec. 2025
Not just a strand here and there but handfuls dragged across the branches.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Taking handfuls of the cooled spinach, squeeze out as much water as possible, then coarsely chop.
—Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Dec. 2025
After the win was sealed, Gophers players raced to the Axe in the west end zone as fans threw handfuls of snow in the air in celebration.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 29 Nov. 2025
Ritchson, showrunner Nick Santo and producer Don Granger have all the read the books two handfuls of times.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 11 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handfuls
Noun
-
Reagan and Wyman were among the most powerful couples in Hollywood at the time of adoption, having met on the set of the 1938 military comedy Brother Rat, and with Wyman winning an Oscar for her performance in the gritty drama Johnny Belinda in 1948.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Jan. 2026
-
In the 1960s, Weiss, the sociologist, published research on married couples who moved to the Boston area from another state.—
Jenny Singer,
The Atlantic,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Their innovation, called retina E-paper, uses nanoparticles to control how light scatters, achieving lifelike color reproduction that can be tuned electrically.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Weed scatters and falls between the wood slats.—
Matthew Shen Goodman,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handfuls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handfuls. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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