handful
/ˈhæn(d)fʊl/ noun B2- The amount that a hand will grasp or contain.
- A small number, usually approximately five.
- A group or number of things; a bunch.
- Something which can only be managed with difficulty. · Those twins are a real handful to look after.
- A five-year prison sentence.
Plural handfuls
From the library
But it seems you have come back rich, my boy,” continued the tailor, looking askance at the handful of gold and silver which Dantès had thrown on the table.
The spectacle was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage.
If Bonaparte landed at Naples, the whole coalition would be on foot before he could even reach Piombino; if he land in Tuscany, he will be in an unfriendly territory; if he land in France, it must be with a handful of men, and the result of that is easily foretold, execrated as he is by the population.
“He has but a handful of men with him, and armies will be despatched against him.”
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