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, 4 Feb. 2026
Drop handfuls evenly over the top of the compost pile, moisten with water, and mix it in with a rake or shovel.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 3 Feb. 2026
Add a few handfuls of compost and mix everything thoroughly.
—Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 15 Jan. 2026
And with two handfuls of books becoming movies or TV shows in 2026, the trend shows no sign of slowing down.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
Yet their early work still feels somehow more atmospheric than their later work where atmosphere is the focus, with a real sense of fear that Neverland can’t quite conjure for all its handfuls of dust.
—Daniel Bromfield, Pitchfork, 8 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
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 4 Feb. 2026
Drop handfuls evenly over the top of the compost pile, moisten with water, and mix it in with a rake or shovel.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 3 Feb. 2026
Add a few handfuls of compost and mix everything thoroughly.
—Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 15 Jan. 2026
And with two handfuls of books becoming movies or TV shows in 2026, the trend shows no sign of slowing down.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
Yet their early work still feels somehow more atmospheric than their later work where atmosphere is the focus, with a real sense of fear that Neverland can’t quite conjure for all its handfuls of dust.
—Daniel Bromfield, Pitchfork, 8 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handfuls
Noun
-
Not many middle-aged couples on TV argue about whether oral sex while driving is a wise move.—
Sarah Hepola,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
For those unhealthily aware of the social-media dynamics between couples, there are countless possibilities of what could’ve happened.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Even a hit isn’t clean—some materials are highly reflective, meaning laser energy bounces off the drone and scatters, potentially causing blinding.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
-
The Problem of Bureaucracy in Scaling Enterprises Business expansion scatters work across codebases, project management tools, chat platforms, and docs.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
11 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handfuls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handfuls. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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