handy

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: hand=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

handy, a. [OE. hendi, AS. hendig (in comp.), fr. hand hand; akin to D. handig, Goth. handugs clever, wise.].

•  Performed by the hand.  [1913 Webster]

  "To draw up and come to handy strokes."  [1913 Webster]
•  Skillful in using the hand; dexterous; ready; adroit.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]
•  Ready to the hand; near; also, suited to the use of the hand; convenient; valuable for reference or use; as, my tools are handy; a handy volume.  [1913 Webster]
•  Easily managed; obedient to the helm; -- said of a vessel.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

handy, adj. (handier, handiest)
1 convenient to handle or use; useful.
2 ready to hand; placed or occurring conveniently.
3 clever with the hands.

Derivative

handily adv. handiness n.

THESAURUS

handy

Daedalian, accessible, adaptable, adept, adjacent, adroit, agential, agentival, agentive, all-around, apt, artistic, assisting, at hand, authoritative, available, baby, baby-sized, bantam, banty, bravura, brilliant, clean, clever, close by, close-by, compact, conducive, convenient, convenient to, coordinated, crack, crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, deft, dexterous, dextrous, diminutive, diplomatic, ductile, duodecimo, easily reached, employable, excellent, expert, facilitating, fancy, favoring, feasible, flexible, foolproof, forwarding, good, goodish, graceful, helpful, ingenious, instrumental, intermediary, magisterial, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, masterful, masterly, mediating, mediatorial, miniature, miniaturized, minikin, minimal, ministerial, ministering, minuscule, nearby, neat, nimble, no mean, of all work, on call, on deck, on hand, on tap, pliable, pliant, pocket, pocket-sized, politic, pony, practical, professional, proficient, promoting, propinquant, propinquous, quick, quite some, ready, ready at hand, resourceful, serviceable, skilled, skillful, slick, small-scale, some, statesmanlike, stylish, subminiature, subservient, tactful, the compleat, the complete, to hand, toy, tractable, twelvemo, untroublesome, usable, useful, versatile, vest-pocket, virtuoso, well-done, wieldable, wieldy, workmanlike, yielding

ROGET THESAURUS

handy

Utility

N utility, usefulness, efficacy, efficiency, adequacy, service, use, stead, avail, help, applicability, subservience, function, value, worth, money's worth, productiveness, cui bono, utilization, step in the right direction, common weal, commonwealth public good, public interest, utilitarianism, useful, of use, serviceable, proficuous, good for, subservient, conducive, subsidiary, advantageous, profitable, gainful, remunerative, worth one's salt, valuable, prolific, adequate, efficient, efficacious, effective, effectual, expedient, applicable, available, ready, handy, at hand, tangible, commodious, adaptable, of all work, usefully, pro bono publico.

Preparation

N preparation, providing, provision, providence, anticipation, precaution, preconcertation, predisposition, forecast, rehearsal, note of preparation, arrangement, clearance, adjustment, tuning, equipment, outfit, accouterment, armament, array, ripening, maturation, evolution, elaboration, concoction, digestion, gestation, batching, incubation, sitting, groundwork, first stone, cradle, stepping-stone, foundation, scaffold, scaffolding, echafaudage, training, inurement, novitiate, cooking, cookery, brewing, culinary art, tilling, plowing sowing, semination, cultivation, preparedness, readiness, ripeness, mellowness, maturity, un impromptu fait a loisir, preparer, trainer, pioneer, trailblazer, avant-courrier, avant-coureur, voortrekker, sappers and miners, pavior, navvy, packer, stevedore, warming pan, preparing, in preparation, in course of preparation, in agitation, in embryo, in hand, in train, afoot, afloat, on foot, on the stocks, on the anvil, under consideration, brewing, batching, forthcoming, brooding, in store for, in reserve, precautionary, provident, preparative, preparatory, provisional, inchoate, under revision, preliminary, prepared, in readiness, ready, ready to one's band, ready made, ready cut and dried: made to one's hand, handy, on the table, in gear, in working order, in working gear, snug, in practice, ripe, mature, mellow, pukka, practiced, labored, elaborate, highly-wrought, smelling of the lamp, worked up, in full feather, in best bib and tucker, in harness, at harness, in the saddle, in arms, in battle array, in war paint, up in arms, armed at all points, armed to the teeth, armed cap a pie, sword in hand, booted and spurred, in utrumque paratus, semper paratus, on the alert, at one's post, in preparation, in anticipation of, against, for, abroach, a bove majori discit arare minor, looking before and after, si vis pacem para bellum.

Skill

N skill, skillfulness, address, dexterity, dexterousness, adroitness, expertness, proficiency, competence, technical competence, craft, callidity, facility, knack, trick, sleight, mastery, mastership, excellence, panurgy, ambidexterity, ambidextrousness, sleight of hand, seamanship, airmanship, marksmanship, horsemanship, rope-dancing, accomplishment, acquirement, attainment, art, science, technicality, technology, practical knowledge, technical knowledge, knowledge of the world, world wisdom, savoir faire, tact, mother wit, discretion, finesse, craftiness, management, self-help, cleverness, talent, ability, ingenuity, capacity, parts, talents, faculty, endowment, forte, turn, gift, genius, intelligence, sharpness, readiness, invention, aptness, aptitude, turn for, capacity for, genius for, felicity, capability, curiosa felicitas, qualification, habilitation, proficient, masterpiece, coup de maitre, chef d'euvre, tour de force, good stroke, skillful, dexterous, adroit, expert, apt, handy, quick, deft, ready, gain, slick, smart, proficient, good at, up to, at home in, master of, a good hand at, au fait, thoroughbred, masterly, crack, accomplished, conversant, experienced, practiced, skilled, hackneyed, up in, well up in, in practice, in proper cue, competent, efficient, qualified, capable, fitted, fit for, up to the mark, trained, initiated, prepared, primed, finished, clever, cute, able, ingenious, felicitous, gifted, talented, endowed, inventive, shrewd, sharp, on the ball, cunning, alive to, up to snuff, not to be caught with chaff, discreet, neat-handed, fine-fingered, nimble-fingered, ambidextrous, sure- footed, cut out for, fitted for, technical, artistic, scientific, daedalian, shipshape, workman- like, business-like, statesman-like, skillfully, well, artistically, with skill, with consummate skill, secundum artem, suo Marte, to the best of one's abilities, ars celare artem, artes honorabit, celui qui veut celui-la peut, c'est une grande habilite que de savoir cacher son, expertus metuit, es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille sich ein C, heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to execute, if you have lemons, make lemonade.

Nearness

N nearness, proximity, propinquity, vicinity, vicinage, neighborhood, adjacency, contiguity, short distance, short step, short cut, earshot, close quarters, stone's throw, bow shot, gun shot, pistol shot, hair's breadth, span, purlieus, neighborhood, vicinage, environs, alentours, suburbs, confines, banlieue, borderland, whereabouts, bystander, neighbor, borderer, approach, convergence, perihelion, near, nigh, close at hand, near at hand, close, neighboring, bordering upon, contiguous, adjacent, adjoining, proximate, proximal, at hand, handy, near the mark, near run, home, intimate, near, nigh, hard by, fast by, close to, close upon, hard upon, at the point of, next door to, within reach, within call, within hearing, within earshot, within an ace of, but a step, not far from, at no great distance, on the verge of, on the brink of, on the skirts of, in the environs, at one's door, at one's feet, at one's elbow, at one's finger's end, at one's side, on the tip of one's tongue, under one's nose, within a stone's throw, in sight of, in presence of, at close quarters, cheek by jole, cheek by jowl, beside, alongside, side by side, tete-a-tete, in juxtaposition, yardarm to yardarm, at the heels of, on the confines of, at the threshold, bordering upon, verging to, in the way, about, hereabouts, thereabouts, roughly, in round numbers, approximately, approximatively, as good as, well-nigh.