handkerchief

UK/ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/US/ˈheɪ̯ŋkɚt͡ʃəf/

nounB1Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,068 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: handkerchiefs

A handkerchief is a small square of cloth for wiping the nose. A cotton handkerchief, offer a handkerchief, a folded handkerchief.

The word is hand plus kerchief, and a kerchief was a cloth for covering the head, from the French for cover the head. Paper tissues replaced it within a generation, and the pocket square survives as decoration only.

Definitions of handkerchief

1nounhandkerchiefA small square of cloth for wiping the nose.B1
“He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose loudly.”

handkerchief is a cloth.

Where it comes from

Hand plus kerchief, from Old French couvrechief, a covering for the head.

From hand + kerchief.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

handkerchief in the wild

For example, a dark blue handkerchief indicates an interest in anal sex, and wearing it in the left pocket indicates a preference for being the insertive partner.
Handkerchief code
Facial tissue and paper handkerchief refers to a class of soft, absorbent, disposable papers that are intended for using on the face.
Facial tissue
The yellow handkerchief of happiness) directed by Yoji Yamada.
The Yellow Handkerchief (2008 film)
The novel explores the upper crust of New York Society from the perspective of a woman's handkerchief.
Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief
The Suffragette Handkerchief is a handkerchief displayed at The Priest House, West Hoathly in West Sussex, England.
The Suffragette Handkerchief

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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