full-handed

comparative more full-handed · superlative most full-handed · alternative fullhanded

1. Carrying something, especially something valuable, such as a gift.

   Had it so been, then for sure the robber had not got off full-handed or without a fight for it.

   1898, Bram Stoker, Miss Betty

   2 more examples

   He was not only carrying a candle to put the finishing touch to him as a target; he had dispensed with coat and waistcoat downstairs, and was at once full-handed and unarmed

   2014, E. W. Hornung, Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman, →ISBN

   By night we'll all be back at this spot, full-handed or empty-handed, as it may be, but full-handed, I hope.

   1926, Joseph Alexander Altsheler, The Masters of the Peaks: A Story of the Great North Woods, →ISBN

2. Wealthy, having all that is needed.

   ...the defendant had been, all the time, since the date of the note sued on, full-handed, in easy circumstances, and able to pay all his debts.

   1904, Reports of Selected Civil and Criminal Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, Volume 51

   2 more examples

   Mr. Beers came to the country full-handed, with a handsome competency to commence any business he might choose, independent of missionary patronage.

   1870, William Henry Gray, A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information, →ISBN

   Lady Anna has given away half her money, and may give away the whole if she pleases. She will be the same to me whether she comes full-handed or empty. But when she is my wife her property shall be my property,—and when I die there shall be no such abomination as an eldest son.

   1871 (date written), Anthony Trollope, “The Lawyers agree”, in Lady Anna. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1874, →OCLC, page 277

3. Enthusiastic and generous.

   Have we not the theatre, its triumphs, and full-handed thunders of applause?

   1852, Charles Reade, Tom Taylor, Masks and Faces (play)

   3 more examples

   Which cast it, that large infidel Your Omar; and your Omar drew Full-handed plaudits from our best

   1882, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Tiresias and Other Poems (dedication to Edward FitzGerald)

   The welcome extended by our brother society to those of our Society who were present exceeded in cordiality and completeness the expectations of those who knew that there would be a warm and full-handed reception, and nothing was lacking in the perfection of arrangements for the meetings and for the comfort and pleasure of our members and their ladies.

   1911, Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

   By every vessel he wrote; he wrote as he gave and as he loved, in full-handed, full-hearted plenitude.

   1853, Charlotte Bronte, Villette

4. Using the palm of the hand or broad gestures.

   Genie swung a full-handed slap that sent the gaudily dressed cop staggering back.

   1964, Keith Laumer, The Great Time Machine Hoax

   4 more examples

   A spit on the palm and a full-handed slap was a deal but if only fingertips slapped then the bargaining would continue.

   2015, Soraya, The Wooden Rose, →ISBN

   As they passed Shack he reached out and gave Helen a massive, full-handed pinch on the buttock and winked at me with relaxed, expansive good cheer.

   2014, John D. MacDonald, The End of the Night, →ISBN

   The circular strokes on the joints; long, full-handed strokes over the long bones

   2012, John Douillard, The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage, →ISBN, page 112

   Then Manuel touched the jangling, jarring little machette to a queer tune, and sang something in Portuguese about "Nina, innocente!" ending with a full-handed sweep that brought the song up with a jerk.

   1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous

5. Having people that fill all positions.

   The switches go in either direction around the triangle, and a player may find himself playing as many as three positions in a full-handed game.

   1984, Marvin J. Fine, Systematic Intervention with Disturbed Children, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   All that was about what you should do in a full-handed hold 'em game when you're the small blind versus a big blind. But, suppose instead that the game is two-handed from the get go.

   2007, Mike Caro, Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice, →ISBN

   So in the first hour of my lone voyage I had proof that the Spray could at least do better than this full-handed steamship, for I was already farther on my voyage than she.

   1900, Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around the World

6. Complete; fully qualified or fully equipped.

   It seems to be a full-handed failure. The bankrupts must have a good deal of the values remaining in their hands.

   1908, American bankruptcy reports - Volume 18, page 205

   3 more examples

   He regarded his younger brother as a “full-handed man of practice” and himself merely “a supported theorist.”

   2014, Charles S. Bryan, Asylum Doctor: James Woods Babcock and the Red Plague of Pellagra, →ISBN

   It was a new and sorry sight for our full-handed American farming men to see those poor, hard Asiatic hands trying, by main strength, to break the tough straw or pull it by the roots.

   2013, Clara Barton, A Story of the Red Cross, →ISBN

   She had, after all, learned from the same master he had although matched daggers offered no reach compared to a full-handed sword.

   2014, Robert Stanek, In the Service of Dragons Boxed Set, →ISBN

comparative more full-handed · superlative most full-handed · alternative fullhanded

1. With full hands; bearing valuables or gifts.

   The want met in this case was that of a delegate to go full-handed from the home to the field, who should in due time return again to the home with pledges from the absent ones;

   1864, United States Christian Commission, for the Army and Navy Volume 2

   1 more example

   On this occasion the minister came full-handed. He told her, first, as appears from her notes and letters, that he had definitely decided to appoint a Sanitary Committee at the India Office. He read out the list of names;

   2014, Edward Tyas Cook, The Life of Florence Nightingale vol. 2 of 2

2. As a wealthy person, having all that is needed.

   O, Death, we come full-handed to they gate, Rich with strange burden of the mingled years

   1893 January, Edith Wharton, “Experience”, in Scribner's Magazine

   1 more example

   One does not remember one's birth -- one has to be told. But with me it was different; life came to me full-handed and dowered me with all my faculties and powers.

   1907, Ambrose Bierce, The Moonlit Road

3. Generously and whole-heartedly.

   Art deals with what we see, it must first contribute full-handed that ingredient;

   1903 September 28, Henry James, The Ambassadors, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   By the promptings of religious instinct and principle, our churches have been built and our asylums founded, and charity full-handed has bestowed her lavish gifts upon the unfortunate.

   1879, Albert Williams, A Pioneer Pastorate and Times: Embodying Contemporary Local Transactions and Events, page 184

4. With the entire hand.

   Can scribble, grasping crayon full-handed and awkwardly.

   2013, Gardner, Smart and Smarter, →ISBN

5. Fully staffed or with all positions filled.

   But if we must run, who are left to run? From Bull Run they ran full-handed. But we have fought until maimed soldiers, women, and children are all that remain to run.

   2014, Mary Boykin Chesnut, Mary Chesnut's Diary, →ISBN

   1 more example

   ...though in the case of the bakers and confectioners at Winnipeg, the shops and factories concerned are running full-handed and most of the employees affected have obtained employment elsewhere.

   1903, The Labour Gazette - Volume 3, page 110

6. In a complete and fully-formed manner.

   Language is also elemental: at the tender dawn of childhood, it enters life with laughing eyes and prattling lips; at maturity's noon, it moves full-handed and deep-voiced in all the concerns of men;

   1922, North Carolina Education - Volume 17, page 3