a small number or amount; " only a handful of responses were received"

As much as the hand will grasp or contain.

A hand's breadth; four inches.

A small quantity.

As much as a hand can hold; all that can be managed.

As much as fills the hand: a small number or quantity:- pl. HANDFULS.

As much as a hand can hold.

As much as the hand will grasp or contain; a small quantity.

As much as the closed hand will contain.

There were only a handful of men in this whole House of Commons besides us who were in favour of any measure of Home Rule for Ireland. – John Redmond's Last Years by Stephen Gwynn

A handful of cash for my labour! – Kai Lung's Golden Hours by Ernest Bramah Commentator: Hilaire Belloc

He extended it, adding, " I thought I'd run in and bring you a handful of cigars. – The Short Cut by Jackson Gregory

Jake, you might pound this handful of stuff as fine as you can. – For the Allinson Honor by Harold Bindloss

As he listened, he noticed a handful of people, listening also, under the barred window. – A Book of Quaker Saints by Lucy Violet Hodgkin

" See how quick they'll change their minds," he said, as he threw down a handful of corn. – A Day Of Fate by E. P. Roe

But at length the storm passed over and over his spent members; sand gathered by the handful in the folds of his clothes; the end was as near as end could be. – Stingaree by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

" And there's another out there," and he pointed again with the handful of shakins. – The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson

" Mayn't be any trains out of Hull during the night, sir," answered Gaffney, taking a handful of sandwiches. – The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation by J. S. Fletcher

And now, daughter of earth," and, as she spoke, she stooped, and pulled up a whole handful of violets, dripping with summer rain,- and repeating the words, " Daughter of earth, away! – Stories of Childhood by Various

He puts a handful of seed on the top end of the board and gently shakes it. – The Cauliflower by A. A. Crozier

With a heavy heart he led back his little handful of tired and wounded soldiers to the camp. – Stories of the Saints by Candle-Light by Vera C. Barclay

Our mode of travelling afforded us an opportunity of calling at Phalsbourg, where we found a handful of Protestants, about twenty- six families, mostly German settlers. – Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel by John Yeardley

Not a blessed handful. – Girls of the Forest by L. T. Meade

My instinct would have been to take a handful of men and dash to her rescue- which of course would have been absurd. – Tarrano the Conqueror by Raymond King Cummings

The former approached the table and turned over the handful of letters. – Vane of the Timberlands by Harold Bindloss

What, do you honestly think you can frighten a grown woman into believing that a handful of silly letters could possibly be worth all that? – Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man by Marie Conway Oemler

On my departure they gave me a handful of money- the most that I had ever possessed in my life together. – Poems Chiefly From Manuscript by John Clare

Again I felt the touch of stones, and again seizing a handful, I went back into the light. – A Crime of the Under-seas by Guy Boothby

Madame's troopers had crossed the frontier, but they had returned again, taking with them the handful of troopers belonging to the king. – The Puppet Crown by Harold MacGrath