Handful

Handful is the amount that can be held in one hand. It is not a precise unit of measurement; the exact quantity depends on the size of the object and the size of the hand. In ordinary usage, a handful refers to a small, approximate amount—typically a few items or a small portion rather than a formal measure. For example, a handful of nuts, seeds, or pebbles might be counted by sight rather than by scale.

The term derives from the combination of hand and full, indicating something that fills the hand. It appears in Middle English as handeful or handfull and has been in use since the late medieval period. The spelling variations gradually standardized to the modern form handful.

In usage, handful functions as a count or mass noun without a strict numeral. It can describe quantities of objects, people, or other items, as in a handful of cookies or a handful of volunteers. The phrase is also used figuratively to describe a person or situation that is difficult to control or manage; for example, “the child is a handful.” Because it conveys approximation rather than precision, handful is common in everyday language and in informal writing, but it is typically avoided in contexts requiring exact measurement.