Well-handed
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Skillful at manual tasks.
"Thomas DeGrey outlined the basic surgical skills as including the ability to: 'Cauterize well, to let blood well, to be light and well-handed, bold and hardy in dressing of a Horse well'."
- 2 Skillfully put together.
"But the interest of a well-handed argument is, perhaps, as strong an influence as any which can be exerted to control attention."
- 3 Having well-formed hands (and arms)
"May the divine Savitri, the well-handed, well-fingered, and well-armed, clear thee by his might!'"
- 4 Having plenty of support.
"... but it also teaches you the value of organization, it shows you the real meaning and import of a well-handed force that makes for good, it sharpens your wit in debate, it loosens your tongue in the right way and in proper channels, and it instills into you a knowledge of parliamentary law and practice that must needs...."
- 5 Well-supplied with slaves. Jamaica, obsolete
"On all estates, the boiling goes on night and day, except sunday. But well-handed estates have three spells, and intermissions accordingly."
Example
More examples"Thomas DeGrey outlined the basic surgical skills as including the ability to: 'Cauterize well, to let blood well, to be light and well-handed, bold and hardy in dressing of a Horse well'."
More for "well-handed"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.