1
as in providing
to put (something) into the possession of someone for use or consumption
was happy to hand her grandmother's cookie recipes to the parish ladies to put in their cookbook
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in passing
to shift possession of (something) from one person to another
the clerk handed her the receipt
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in leaving
to put (something) into the possession or safekeeping of another
handed me her bundles while she fished for her house keys
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handing
The Case for Hiring a Pro Hiring a pet transporter means handing the leash—temporarily—to someone trained for the job.
—
Maria Williams, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
How to Watch Suns vs Warriors Phoenix went supernova from the floor on Sunday night in handing the visiting San Antonio Spurs their first loss with a 130-118 decision.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
The justices have so far been reluctant to check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of wins on the court’s emergency docket.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025
The writer finished the trail in 40 days and recounted stories of strangers handing him candy bars through car windows, bar owners delivering him breakfast, a father scooping him up amid a rainstorm and a physical therapist working wonders on his knee at half her hourly rate.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
The Chiefs ran the ball right away, handing it to Hunt on first down.
—Sam McDowell 4, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2025
With much of the world horrified by the USSR’s brutality, Eisenhower was furious that the British-French-Israeli offensive was both diverting international attention and handing Moscow a PR victory by enabling it to speak about Western aggression in the Middle East.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
Bolduc’s hit on Senators star defenceman Jake Sanderson just before the nine-minute mark of the first period sent Sanderson into the Canadiens’ bench and incited Sens tough guy Kurtis MacDermid to go after him, handing the Canadiens a power play.
—Arpon Basu, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Rosensweig, a former top executive at Yahoo who joined Chegg as CEO in 2010, stepped down from the post in April 2024, handing the job to Schultz, who was operating chief at the time.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2025
Maria Williams, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
How to Watch Suns vs Warriors Phoenix went supernova from the floor on Sunday night in handing the visiting San Antonio Spurs their first loss with a 130-118 decision.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
The justices have so far been reluctant to check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of wins on the court’s emergency docket.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025
The writer finished the trail in 40 days and recounted stories of strangers handing him candy bars through car windows, bar owners delivering him breakfast, a father scooping him up amid a rainstorm and a physical therapist working wonders on his knee at half her hourly rate.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
The Chiefs ran the ball right away, handing it to Hunt on first down.
—Sam McDowell 4, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2025
With much of the world horrified by the USSR’s brutality, Eisenhower was furious that the British-French-Israeli offensive was both diverting international attention and handing Moscow a PR victory by enabling it to speak about Western aggression in the Middle East.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
Bolduc’s hit on Senators star defenceman Jake Sanderson just before the nine-minute mark of the first period sent Sanderson into the Canadiens’ bench and incited Sens tough guy Kurtis MacDermid to go after him, handing the Canadiens a power play.
—Arpon Basu, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Rosensweig, a former top executive at Yahoo who joined Chegg as CEO in 2010, stepped down from the post in April 2024, handing the job to Schultz, who was operating chief at the time.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handing
Verb
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Foraging for black walnuts is a long-standing tradition in the Ozarks, providing extra cash for harvesters and connecting people with the outdoors.—
Randy Moll,
Arkansas Online,
11 Nov. 2025
-
The United States supported the anti-communist massacres, providing lists of senior communist party officials, equipment and money to the Indonesian army, according to official documents that were declassified in 2017.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, second-year quarterback Drake Maye finds himself among the leading early MVP candidates while ranking fifth in the league in passing yards (2,285) and tied for third in touchdown passes (17) while throwing only four interceptions.—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
-
The Bearcats had 222 yards passing and 273 yards rushing.—
The Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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For years, younger generations have flocked to big cities for better job opportunities, leaving a dwindling elderly population in rural villages.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Six Central and North American teams scratched, leaving Cuba to qualify.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The Chinese leader then toured the vessel, including inspecting the mess hall and giving a trial press of the ship’s catapult button, according to CCTV.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
-
At Tesla’s annual meeting on Thursday, shareholders voted in favor of giving CEO Musk a gargantuan, record-shattering pay package that could give him stock worth $1 trillion after several years.—
Geoff Colvin,
Fortune,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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When in a group, space out to prevent the current from transferring between individuals.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Nov. 2025
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That could involve upgrading technology or equipment, or transferring locations to new operators.—
Diana Leyva,
Nashville Tennessean,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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His solo debut, Barbarian, made more than $45 million on a budget of less than $5 million, and now Warners was entrusting the actor turned director with a movie costing eight times that.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Wang Jingtao, a deputy director of China’s Cyberspace Administration, said the deal could include methods such as entrusting the operation of TikTok’s US user data and content security services, as well as licensing its algorithms and intellectual property rights.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Companies used the standpipe to bring water to the Rio Verde Foothills housing development after Scottsdale stopped supplying that community with water for several months in 2023.—
Austin Corona,
AZCentral.com,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Reservoirs supplying Tehran and other urban centers have dropped to critically low levels, while agricultural production in the nation’s most fertile regions is collapsing, threatening food security and rural livelihoods.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
For math, the district again saw 49% of students reaching their growth targets -- or two percentage points below the state average.—
Dmitry Martirosov,
Arkansas Online,
12 Nov. 2025
-
The company has spent 18 months in stealth under the name M1, reaching $4 million in annual recurring revenue with more than 20,000 paying customers, half of whom open the app 14 times a day, six days a week.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handing. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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