Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The amount that an arm or arms can hold.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun As much as the arms can hold; what one holds in one's arms or embrace.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun As much as the arm can hold.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The amount an arm or arms can hold.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the quantity that can be contained in the arms

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From arm +‎ -ful.

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Examples

  • He worked methodically, even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength.

    To Build A Fire 2010

  • "If only we had more stuff," Drexel groaned to his sister, as he threw down a meager, hard-gathered armful of the dry and brittle shrub, and as

    WHOSE BUSINESS IS TO LIVE 2010

  • A bucket of water to be brought, an extra armful of wood to be chopped, the dishes to be washed and wiped, a search to be made through the outfit for some suddenly indispensable article, -- and these two effete scions of civilization discovered sprains or blisters requiring instant attention.

    In a Far Country 2010

  • I had the boys bring a big armful and I arranged them all myself.

    CHAPTER XXIV 2010

  • "It was good of you," spoke the armful, "to send Mr. Devereaux with fresh dogs after me, else I would not have been in till to - morrow."

    Jack London Play:The Scorn of Women 2010

  • And a pretty armful it was, nestling against him wearily, but happy.

    Jack London Play:The Scorn of Women 2010

  • Not until the bed was spread, the fire built, and a pot of beans boiling did Billy throw down the last armful of wood and begin.

    CHAPTER IV 2010

  • He worked methodically, even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength.

    To Build a Fire 2010

  • If Sit-cum-to-ha had only remembered her grandfather, and gathered a larger armful, his hours would have been longer.

    THE LAW OF LIFE 2010

  • He gathered an armful of dry wood, and with a few stones made a place for his fire.

    All Gold Cañon 2010

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