/ˈhæn.di/
OriginFrom Middle English handy, hondi (attested in personal names), alteration of earlier hendi (“handy, skillful”), from Old English *hendiġ (“skillful”) (attested in listhendiġ (“skilled in art”)), from Proto-West Germanic *handīg, *handag, *handug, from Proto-Germanic *handugaz (“handy, skillful, nimble”), from *handuz (“hand”), equivalent to hand + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jäntich (“handy”), Middle Low German handich (“skillful, apt”), Middle High German handec, hendec (“manual, hand-held”), Old Norse hǫndugr (“efficient”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise, clever”). Akin to Dutch handig (“handy”), Norwegian hendig (“handy”), Swedish händig (“handy”).
- Easy to use, useful.
“Some people regard duct tape as a handy fix-all.”
- Nearby, within reach.
“You wouldn’t have a screwdriver handy, would you?”
“I keep a first-aid kit handy in case of emergency.”
- Dexterous, skilful. (of a person)
“She's very handy: she made all her own kitchen cupboards.”
- slangPhysically violent; tending to use one's fists.
“We had a sergeant who was a bit handy with the rougher elements. He dealt with them a little bit differently to what I do.”
“The Sloanes said he had nothing on them, that he threatened them, made up a lot of lies. Tried to attack them, got a bit handy.”
- Of a freight ship: having a small cargo capacity (less than 40,000 DWT); belonging to the handysize class.
- childishThe hand.
“Clap, clap handies
Mammie's wee, wee ain.”
- Multicultural-London-English, slangA handgun.
“Look left and right, when I cross these roads,
I don’t wanna get fright
We got handies and shotties,
which one should you decide?”
- Synonym of mobile phone.
“An important field of application for small rechargeable lithium ion batteries is that of the fast growing market of cellular phones or ‘handies’. 277,000,000 handies were sold worldwide in 1999.”
““I’m afraid Mister Franklyn is occupied until seven o’clock. He shall call when he breaks. I’ll take a handy to receive calls—”[…]The distance frees him to take phone calls on his handy.”
“Life was good and quiet until six weeks ago when he received a phone call on his handy from Unbekannt Nummer --Unknown Number.”
- A surname transferred from the nickname.
- rareA male given name from English.
Formshandier(comparative) · handiest(superlative) · hendy(alternative, dialectal, obsolete) · handies(plural)