Meanings
nounhandshake (plural handshakes)
plural handshakes
- computingAn exchange of signals between two devices when communications begin in order to ensure synchronization.
verbhandshake (third-person singular simple present handshakes, present participle handshaking, simple past and past participle handshaked or handshook)
present singular third person handshakes · participle present handshaking · participle past handshaked · past handshaked · participle past handshook · past handshook
- intransitiveTo perform a handshake; to shake hands.
- intransitivecomputingTo perform a handshake with another device.
Synonyms & antonyms
noungrasping and shaking a person's hand (as to acknowledge an introduction or to agree on a contract)
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From hand + shake. See the appendix for the history of the gesture itself.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans handdruk
- handdrukgrasping of hands by two people
Arabic مُصَافَحَة
- مُصَافَحَة (muṣāfaḥa)grasping of hands by two people
Bengali মুসাফা
- মুসাফা (muśapha)grasping of hands by two people
Bulgarian ръкости́скане, ръку́ване
- ръкости́скане (răkostískane)grasping of hands by two people
- ръку́ване (răkúvane)grasping of hands by two people
Catalan encaixada
- encaixadagrasping of hands by two people
Chinese Cantonese 握手
- 握手 (ak¹ sau² / aak¹ sau²)grasping of hands by two people
Chinese Mandarin 握手, 握手
- 握手 (wòshǒu)grasping of hands by two people
- 握手 (wòshǒu)an exchange of signals between two devices
Czech podání ruky
- podání rukygrasping of hands by two people
Danish håndtryk
- håndtrykgrasping of hands by two people
Dutch handdruk
- handdrukgrasping of hands by two people
Esperanto manpremo
- manpremograsping of hands by two people
Estonian käesurumine, käepigistus
- käesuruminegrasping of hands by two people
- käepigistusgrasping of hands by two people
Finnish kättely
- kättelygrasping of hands by two people
French poignée de main, shake-hand
- poignée de maingrasping of hands by two people
- shake-handgrasping of hands by two people
- établissement d'une liaisonan exchange of signals between two devices
- handshakean exchange of signals between two devices
German Händeschütteln, Handschlag
- Händeschüttelngrasping of hands by two people
- Handschlaggrasping of hands by two people
- Händedruckgrasping of hands by two people
Greek χειραψία
- χειραψία (cheirapsía)grasping of hands by two people
Hawaiian lūlū lima, lūlū
- lūlū limagrasping of hands by two people
- lūlūsense 1
Hebrew לְחִיצַת יָד
- לְחִיצַת יָד (lekhitsát yad)grasping of hands by two people
Hindi करमर्दन
- करमर्दन (karmardan)grasping of hands by two people
Hungarian kézfogás
- kézfogásgrasping of hands by two people
Icelandic handaband
- handabandgrasping of hands by two people
Indonesian jabat tangan
- jabat tangangrasping of hands by two people
Italian stretta di mano
- stretta di manograsping of hands by two people
Japanese 握手, ハンドシェーク
- 握手 (akushu)grasping of hands by two people
- ハンドシェーク (handoshēku)grasping of hands by two people
- ハンドシェイク (handosheiku)an exchange of signals between two devices
Korean 악수, 핸드세이크
- 악수 (aksu)grasping of hands by two people
- 핸드세이크 (haendeuseikeu)grasping of hands by two people
- 핸드셰이크 (haendeusyeikeu)grasping of hands by two people
- 핸드셰이킹 (haendeusyeiking)an exchange of signals between two devices
Latvian rokasspiediens
- rokasspiediensgrasping of hands by two people
Lithuanian rankos paspaudimas
- rankos paspaudimasgrasping of hands by two people
Norwegian Bokmål håndtrykk
- håndtrykkgrasping of hands by two people
Polish uścisk dłoni, wymiana potwierdzeń
- uścisk dłonigrasping of hands by two people
- wymiana potwierdzeńan exchange of signals between two devices
- uściskać dłońsense 1
- uścisnąć dłońsense 1
- wymieniać potwierdzeniasense 2
- wymienić potwierdzeniasense 2
Portuguese aperto de mão, passou-bem
- aperto de mãograsping of hands by two people
- passou-bemgrasping of hands by two people
- bacalhaugrasping of hands by two people
Romanian strângere de mână
- strângere de mânăgrasping of hands by two people
Russian рукопожа́тие
- рукопожа́тие (rukopožátije)grasping of hands by two people
Slovak podanie ruky, stisk ruky
- podanie rukygrasping of hands by two people
- stisk rukygrasping of hands by two people
Spanish apretón de manos, estrechamiento de manos
- apretón de manosgrasping of hands by two people
- estrechamiento de manosgrasping of hands by two people
- estrechadura de manosgrasping of hands by two people
- establecimiento comunicacionalan exchange of signals between two devices
- establecimiento comunicativoan exchange of signals between two devices
- darse la manosense 1
- estrecharse la manosense 1
- apretarse la manosense 1
- diñarse la manosense 1
- establecer comunicaciónsense 2
Swedish handskakning, handslag
- handskakninggrasping of hands by two people
- handslaggrasping of hands by two people
- handtryckninggrasping of hands by two people
- handskakningan exchange of signals between two devices
Thai การจับมือ, จับมือ
- การจับมือ (gaan-jàp-mʉʉ)grasping of hands by two people
- จับมือ (jàp-mʉʉ)grasping of hands by two people
Turkish el sıkışma, el sıkma
- el sıkışmagrasping of hands by two people
- el sıkmagrasping of hands by two people
- tokalaşmagrasping of hands by two people
Ukrainian рукостиска́ння, по́тиск
- рукостиска́ння (rukostyskánnja)grasping of hands by two people
- по́тиск (pótysk)grasping of hands by two people
Urdu مُصافَحَہ
- مُصافَحَہ (musāfaha)grasping of hands by two people
Vietnamese cái bắt tay, sự bắt tay
- cái bắt taygrasping of hands by two people
- sự bắt taygrasping of hands by two people
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
handshake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handshake
MLA
“handshake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handshake. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handshake,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handshake.
Source: handshake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.