handplay

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noun

Hand-to-hand combat.

OriginMiddle English *handpleie ← Old English handplega →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounhandplay (usually uncountable, plural handplays)

plural handplays

  1. uncountableusuallyHand-to-hand combat.
  2. uncountableusuallycard gamesIn the game of skat, the playing of one's hand without using the skat.

Origin

  1. Old Englishhandplega“fighting”
  2. Middle English*handpleie
  3. Englishhandplay

Combat sense: perhaps from Middle English *handpleie, from Old English handplega (“fighting”), equivalent to hand + play. Compare swordplay.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

handplay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handplay

MLA

“handplay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handplay. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handplay,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handplay.

Source: handplay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.