HAN 
To pra&ife upon ; to tranfafl: with.—Pray you, my lord, 
give me leave to queftion ; you fliall fee how I’ll handle 
her. Shakefpeare. 
HAN'DLE,/ [hanble, Sax. ] That part of any thing 
by which it is held in the hand; a haft.—Fortune turn- 
eth the handle-oi the bottle, which is eafy to be taken 
hold of; and after the belly, which is hard to grafp. 
Bacon. —There is nothing but hath a double handle , or at 
.leaft wehave two hands to apprehend it. Taylor. 
Of bone the handles pf my knives are made. 
Yet no ill taffe from thenceaffefts the blade. Dryden. 
That of which ufe is made.—They overturned him in 
all his interefts by the fure but fatal handle of his own 
'good nature. South. 
HAND'LESS, adj. Without a hand : 
Speak, my Lavinia, what accurfed hand 
Hath made thee handlefs ? Shakefpeare. 
HAND'LING, f The aft of feeling or touching with 
the hand ; the manner in which any fubjedt is treated. , 
HAND'M AlD, /. A maid that waits at hand.—Since 
he had placed his heart upon wifdom ; health, wealth, 
victory,’ and honour, Ihould always wait on her as her 
handmaids. Addifon. 
By viewing nature, nature’s handmaid. Art, 
Makes mighty things from fmall beginnings grow; 
Thus fillies firft to (hipping did impart, 
Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow. Dryden. 
Then criticifm the mufe’s handmaid prov’d, 
To drefs her charms and make her more belov’d. Pope. 
HANDMAI'DEN, f Handmaid.—For he hath re¬ 
garded the low ehate of his handmaiden. Luke i. 48. 
HAN'DO, a country of Africa, in the kingdom of 
Quoja. 
HANDS, f. [becaufe both hands hold the bat.] An 
inning at cricket. Mafon's Suppl. to Johnfon. 
HANDS OFF'. A vulgar phrafe for keep off; for¬ 
bear.—They cut a flag into parts ; but as they were en¬ 
tering upon the dividend, hands off, fays the lion. Dryd. 
HAN'DSEL, f. [hanfel, Dut. a firft gift.] The firft 
adt of ufing any thing ; the firft aft of fale. It is not 
ufed s , except in the dialect of trade.—The apoftles term 
it the pledge of our inheritance, and the handfe-l or earned 
of that which is to come. Hooker. 
Thou art joy’s handfel ; heav’n lies flat on thee, 
Subjedt to every mounter’s bended knee. Herbert. 
To HAN'DSEL, v. a. To ufe or do any thing the firft 
time : 
In timorous deer he handfels his young paws. 
And leaves the rugged bear for firmer claws. Cowley. 
HAND'SOME, adj .ffiandfaem, Dut. ready, dexterous.] 
Ready; gainly ; convenient.—For a thief it is fo hand~ 
fame , as it may feem it was firft invented for him. Spenfer. 
—Beautiful, with dignity : graceful.—A great man en¬ 
tered by force into a peafant’s houfe, and, finding his 
wife very handfome , turned the good man out of his dwel¬ 
ling. Addifon. —Elegant; graceful.—That eafinefs and 
handfome. addrefs in writing, is hardeft to be atta'ined by 
perlons bred in a meaner way. Felton. —Ample ; liberal; 
as, a handfome fortune. Generous; noble; as, a hand¬ 
fome adtion. 
To HAND’SOME, v. a. To render elegant or neat: 
Him all repute 
For his device in handfoming a fuit; 
To judge of lace he hath the beft conceit. Donne. 
HAND'SOMELY, adv. Conveniently; dexteroufly: 
When the kind nymph, changing her faultlefs fhape. 
Becomes linliandfome, handfomely to ’fcape. Waller. 
Beautifully; gracefully. Elegantly; neatly.—A car¬ 
penter, after he hath fawn down a tree, hath wrought it 
handfomely and made a veffel thereof. Wifdom. —Liberally ; 
Vol. IX. No. 578. 
HAN £ 209 
generoufly.—T am finding out a convenient place for an 
almfhoufe, which I intend to endow very handfomely for a 
dozen fuperannuated hufbandmen. Addifon. 
HAND'SOMENESS, f. Beauty; grace; elegance,.— 
Accompanying her mourning garments with a doleful 
countenance, yet neither forgetting handfomenefsin mourn¬ 
ing garments, nor fweetnefs in her doleful countenance. 
Sidney. 
' HAND'SPIKE, or Handspec,/ a lever, ufually of 
wood, for raffing great weights by the hand. It is five 
or fix feet long, cut thin at the lower end, that it may 
get the eafier between things that are to be feparated, 
or tinder any weight that is to be raifed. It is much 
fupefior to a crow of iron, becaufe its length allows a 
better poife. 
HAN'DY, adj. Executed or performed by the hand ; 
Both parties now were drawn fo clofe, 
Almoft to come to handy blows. Hudibras. 
Ready dexterous; fkilful: 
She ftript the (talks of all their leaves ; the beft 
She cull’d, and them with handy care (he dreft. Dryden. 
Convenient ; ready to the hand.—The ftrike-bloek is a 
plane fhorter than the jointer, and is more handy than 
the long jointer. Moxon. 
HANDY-DAN'DY, /. A. play in which children 
change hands and places.—See how yond juftice rails 
upon yond Ample thief! Hark in thine ear : change 
places; and kandy-dandy , which is the juftice, which is 
the thief > Shakefpeare. 
HAND'YWARP,/. in commerce, a kind of clotlu ; 
Phillips. 
HAND'YWORK, f. See Handiwork. 
HANEOY'E,.a fmall lake of United America, in the 
ftate of New York : twenty-fix miles fouth of Lake On¬ 
tario. 
HANE'GA,/ A corn-meafure at Bilboa in Spain,, 
three-fifths of an Englifli bufhel. 
HA'NES, the name of a city of Egypt. Ifaiah xxx. 4. 
HANG,./, [a phrafe with landfeape gardeners.] A . 
fliarp declivity. 
To HANG, v. a. preter. and part. paff. hanged ox hung, 
anciently hong : [hangan, Sax.] Tofufpend; to fallen in 
fuch a manner as to be fuftained, not below, but above. 
—His great army is utterly ruined, he himfelf (lain in it, 
and his head and right hand cut off, and hung up before 
Jerusalem. South. 
Strangely vifited people he cures; 
Hanging a golden (lamp about their necks, 
Put on with holy prayers. Shakefpeare. 
To place without any folid fupport: 
Thou all things haft of nothing made, 
That hang'Jl the folid earth in fleeting air, 
Vein’.d with clear fprings, which ambient feas repair. 
Sandys. 
To choakand kill by fufpending by the neck, fo as that 
the ligature intercepts the breath and circulation : 
Hanging fuppofes human foul and reafon ; 
This animal’s below committing treafon : 
Shall he be hang'd , who never could rebel ? 
That’s a preferment for Architophel. Dryden. 
To difplay ; to (how aloft.—This unlucky mole milled 
feveral coxcombs; like the hanging out of falfe colours. 
Addifon. —To let fall below the proper fituation; to de¬ 
cline.—There is a wicked man that hangeth down his head 
fadly ; but inwardly he is full of deceit. Ecclef.x ix. 26. 
The role is fragrant, but it fades in time ; 
The violet fweet, but quickly paft the prime ; 
White lilies hang their heads, and foon decay ; 
And whiter fnow in minutes melts away. Dryden. 
To fix in fuch a manner as in fome directions to be 
moveable.—The gates and the chambers they renewed, 
and hanged doors upon them. Mac, iv. 57.—To cover or 
3 H charge 
