Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
handsbreadth. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
handsbreadth, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
handsbreadth in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
handsbreadth you have here. The definition of the word
handsbreadth will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
handsbreadth, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
hand + -s- + breadth
Noun
handsbreadth (plural handsbreadths)
- a small distance
1855, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume II.(of III) 1566-74:The provinces of Holland and Zealand were stanch and true, but the inequality of the contest between a few brave men, upon that handsbreadth of territory, and the powerful Spanish Empire, seemed to render the issue hopeless.
1905, Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries:As a child, having thrust away the mother's guiding hand and hidden its face against the wall, may fancy itself alone and forgotten, until, turning with a cry, it finds around it the protecting mother-arms that were never but a handsbreadth away; so does man in his wilfulness push away the shielding arms of the divine Mother of the worlds, only to find, when he turns back his face, that he has never been outside their protecting shelter, and that wherever he may wander that guarding love is round him still.
Anagrams