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Meanings of handbreadth in English

Any unit of length based on the breadth of the human hand.

Usage of handbreadth in English
1
A cart creaked past, one wheel coming within a handbreadth of Owein's head.
The grail king
2
By what looked like a handbreadth, we cleared each other, and the race continued.
The Cruise of the "Cachalot" Round the World After Sperm Whales
3
The door to the dungeons stood cracked open a handbreadth.
The great hunt
4
A handbreadth of basis is enough for me, if it be actually basis and ground!
Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None
5
She was kicking at him while simultaneously attempting to climb the last handbreadth up onto the platform.
Blameless
6
Now, ''tis a handbreadth, 'tis a tale.'
Anne of the Island
7
You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Heaven
8
Instantly his scarlet robe ballooned out tautly, until it stood a handbreadth away from his body at every point.
Gather, Darkness!
9
But the great arrow had pierced right through her shoulder, and stood out a handbreadth upon the other side.
A Heroine of France: The Story of Joan of Arc
10
He pulled the blade a handbreadth from its wood and leather sheath and rubbed at the symbols etched in its iron.
Return of the Crimson Guard
11
And when the perfect fruition is come, and we enter into the great spaces of Eternity, it will seem as an handbreadth.
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Isaiah and Jeremiah
12
And the borders of them were of one handbreadth, turned inwards round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Old Testament — Part 2
13
Her blood tingled with the air from the wind-swept harbor, with the rush of the great engines, as by a handbreadth they plunged past her.
The Scarlet Car
14
And so, in like manner, Moses and Elijah halted ten handbreadths from heaven.
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and ...
15
Eighteen handbreadths was the height of the golden candlestick.
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and ...
16
Behold, Thou hast made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is nothin' in Thy sight.
Swan Song
About this term
Handbreadth through the time