Double-handed
adj, adv, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 simple past and past participle of double-hand form-of, participle, past
"I could see it the first time I met her, the way she peered at Carlo, whom she had just met. and at the gala the other night, the way she fell into Adrian Franklin and then double-handed his hand when he helped her up."
- 1 Involving both hands. not-comparable
"With this double-handed frontal horizontal grip the child is held in secure prone position so that its legs can move freely."
- 2 Designed to be used with two hands. not-comparable
"Usually 2–3.5 metres in length, double-handed spinning rods are ideal for tackling slightly larger fish, including tailor, salmon (hahawai), trevally, flathead, snapper, barramundi, and Murray cod."
- 3 Involving two people. not-comparable
"The double-handed conversation had started to resemble a vaudeville act."
- 4 Serving two purposes or involving two approaches. not-comparable
"A “double-handed” strategy is called for, where the authorities show a readiness to intervene in the short run to support the economy should it flag again, while at the same time providing economic agents with a sense of long-term direction and governance to re-establish confidence."
- 5 deceitful; deceptive not-comparable
"Ibrahim, who entertains suspicions of this double-handed policy, compromises the Prince by every means in his power."
- 1 With two hands. not-comparable
"Holding his stick double-handed, the man swung it around mid-height towards Henry's already bruised rib cage."
Example
More examples"Then these are your instructions, and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter, for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals in Europe."
Related phrases
More for "double-handed"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.