Handwhile
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A little while; a moment, an instant. obsolete
"Yea, mine owne sayings are every hand-while alleadged against my selfe, when God wot I perceive it not."
Example
More examples"Yea, mine owne sayings are every hand-while alleadged against my selfe, when God wot I perceive it not."
Etymology
From Middle English handwhile, from Old English handhwīl (“an instant”), equivalent to hand + while. Cognate with Middle High German hantwile (“handwhile”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.