handless
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English handles, equivalent to hand + -less. Cognate with German handlos (“handless”), Icelandic handlauss (“handless”).
Adjective
handless (not comparable)
- Without a hand.
- c. 1602 William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 5, scene 5:
- Together with his mangled Myrmidons, That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him
- c. 1602 William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 5, scene 5:
- (obsolete) Not handy; awkward.
Translations
without a hand
Etymology 2
From handleless, by haplology, under the influence of etymology 1 above.
Adjective
handless (not comparable)
- Without a handle.
- 1812, John Galt, Voyages and travels in the years 1809, 1810, and 1811[1], page 106:
- She gave him a few coppers from the handless jug.
- 1836, The Metropolitan, Volume 15, page 148:
- One battered, spoutless, handless, japanned-in jug, that did not contain water, for it leaked.
- 2003, Manners... More than Etiquette, page 91:
- Chinese soup is sipped in a handless cup (Chinese soup bowl) with its own soupspoon.
- 2006, Elsieferne V. Stout, Dundy County Babe[2], page 44:
- The leftover dough from the loaves would be rolled out with a handless, wooden, rolling pin.
Translations
without a handle — see handleless
Anagrams
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -less
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Anatomy
- English haplological forms