Other forms: fistfuls
A fistful is as much as a closed hand can hold. A fistful of coins.
It is a rough measure and always suggests grabbing rather than counting. A fistful of anything is more than a handful, since the hand is closed rather than open.
1nounfistfulAs much as a closed hand can hold.
“He pulled out a fistful of receipts and dropped half of them.”
fistful is an amount.
Fist plus -ful, on the pattern of handful and mouthful.
From fist + -ful.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA