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Handle

.

He has a handle to his name. Some title, as “lord,” “sir,” “doctor.” The French say Monsieur sans queue, a man without a tail (handle to his name).

To give a handle to … . To give grounds for suspicion; as, “He certainly gave a handle to the rumour.”

“He gave a handle to his enemies, and threw stumbling-blocks in the way of his friends.”—Hazlitt: Spirit of the Age (James Macintosh), p. 139.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Hand-in-Hand
Hand of Cards
Hand of Justice
Hand over Hand
Hand the Sail
Hand Down to Posterity (To)
Handfasting
Handicap
Handkerchief
Handkerchief and Sword
Handle
Handsome = liberal
Handwriting on the Wall (The)
Handycuffs
Hang Back (To)
Hang Fire (To)
Hang On (To)
Hang Out
Hangdog Look (A)
Hang by a Thread (To)
Hang in the Bell Ropes (To)