English

Alternative forms

• weakhanded

Adjective

weak-handed ‎(comparative more weak-handed, superlative most weak-handed)

1. Having or involving hands that are weak or infirm.
   • 1914, Hoard's Dairyman - Volume 46, page 744:

     He also had a son named Dave who thought milking a pretty tough job, and who imagined he was getting weak-handed and on the way to milker's paralysis.

   • 2014, William Osborn Stoddard, With the Black Prince, ISBN 6050312281:

     It was no weapon for one at all weak-handed.

   • 2012, Victor Villasenor, Macho!, ISBN 158270273X, page 45:

     No more weak-handed handshakes.

2. (by extension) Weak; lacking courage and strength.
   • 1897, Hezekiah Butterworth, True to His Home: A Tale of the Boyhood of Franklin, ISBN 1465538798:

     It is true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed; but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects.

   • 2013, H.G. Wells, The H.G. Wells Anthology, ISBN 1628408626:

     We have been mealy-mouthed and weak-handed; we have trifled and temporised and the Food has grown and grown.

   • 2014, Max Brand, Three Who Paid, ISBN 160977602X:

     Cold Feet was a futile, weak-handed little coward.

   • 2014, Wayne Root, The Murder of the Middle Class, ISBN 1621572323:

     This flushing out of weak-handed, short-term gold speculators will prove a valuable entry point for those who have felt they missed the gold rush over the last few years.

3. (obsolete) Understaffed
   • 1812, David Macpherson, The history of the European commerce with India, page 15:

     With this heroic resolution, he put himself into the hands of the Zamorin with a retinue of only twelve men, being unwilling to leave the ships weak-handed for the sake of an unavailing and empty parade of attendance.

   • 1827, Phillip Parker King, Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia, Performed Between the Years 1818 and 1822:

     We were now very weak-handed; three men, besides Mr. Bedwell who was still an invalid, being ill, considerably reduced our strength

   • 1842, Sylvanus Urban (pseud. van Edward Cave.), Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle:

     Owing to various stoppages occasioned by the necessity of procuring supplies of wood, a duty of peculiar difficulty in the weak-handed condition of the vessel, she did not reach the open sea until the 29th.

   • 2014, Charles Reade, Delphi Complete Works of Charles Reade:

     He felt himself so weak-handed with only Robinson, who might leave him, and a shepherd lad he had just hired.

4. (obsolete) Poor; impoverished.
   • 1906, University of Cincinnati Studies - Volume 2, page 61:

     Should he be weak-handed (poor), he is compelled to be content with what is termed girdling, which consists in cutting the bark, thereby, of course, killing the trees, and he afterwards clears away the underwood, which is seldom considerable.

Adverb

weak-handed ‎(comparative more weak-handed, superlative most weak-handed)

1. (shooting) With gun held in hands that are not braced to stengthen the grip.
   • 2012, Jennifer Pearsall, Gun Digest Illustrated Guide to Modern Firearms, ISBN 1440232539, page 87:

     Its cold hammer-forged barrel is beyond accurate, and the ergonomic grip is all it takes to stay steady in awkward shooting positions or when shooting weak-handed.

   • 2012, Brian Enos, Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals, ISBN 0985129255:

     And if the targets require you to make really awkward leans from your freestyle position, don't ever rule out the possibility of engaging the targets strong-handed or even possibly weak-handed.

   • 2014, Lawrence N. Blum, Force under Pressure, ISBN 1590563360:

     Let's face it, while there is obvious benefit to range shooting, standing at the fifteen-yard line at a barricade shooting three shots strong-handed and three shots weak-handed just does not equate to the elements the officer will experience if he or she is involved in a tactical encounter containing moving multiple suspects and lethal threat.

2. In a weak-handed manner.
   • 1838, Methodist Episcopal Church. Missionary Society, Annual Report, page 54:

     Beginning there weak-handed is not the thing to do.