Dictionary

handyman en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhændimæn/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *handuz Proto-West Germanic *handu Old English hand Middle English hond English hand Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English handy Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English handyman From handy + -man.

Meanings

1. (informal) A person who does small tasks and odd jobs, especially building repairs and the like.
   • I complained that the heat was not working, and the landlord sent the handyman to fix it.
   • There was one thing she wanted; she said to hubby dear, / "The time would pass more quickly if I had a rocking chair." / [...] As Strings is such a handyman, by night the job was done / He took that thing upstairs and said, "Now try this out for fun." 1983, Stan Rogers, “Strings and Dory Plug”, in For the Family:

Forms

Deriveds

handyman's special

Relateds

jack of all trades

Synonyms

odd-job man

Translations (39)

ota تعمیرجی (man who does odd tasks) · nb altmuligmann (man who does odd tasks) · da altmuligmand (man who does odd tasks) · cmn 勤雜工 /勤杂工 (man who does odd tasks) · fr homme à tout faire (man who does odd tasks) · de Reparateur (man who does odd tasks) · de Handlanger (man who does odd tasks) · ru умелец (man who does odd tasks) · de Heimwerker (man who does odd tasks) · ja 便利屋 (man who does odd tasks) · et meistrimees (man who does odd tasks) · nn altmogelegmann (man who does odd tasks) · kea buldonhe (man who does odd tasks) · oc totòbra (man who does odd tasks) · pl majster-klepka (man who does odd tasks) · nl manusje-van-alles (man who does odd tasks) · fi nikkari (man who does odd tasks) · it tuttofare (man who does odd tasks) · ru мастер на все руки (man who does odd tasks) · pt faz-tudo (man who does odd tasks) · fi yleismies (man who does odd tasks) · cs údržbář (man who does odd tasks) · tr tamirci (man who does odd tasks) · de Mädchen für alles (man who does odd tasks) · de Handwerker (man who does odd tasks) · cmn 雜務工 /杂务工 (man who does odd tasks) · bg момче за всичко (man who does odd tasks) · he תיקונצ׳יק (man who does odd tasks) · es milusos (man who does odd tasks) · pl złota rączka (man who does odd tasks) · ru разнорабочий (man who does odd tasks) · fr bricoleur (man who does odd tasks) · es todólogo (man who does odd tasks) · es manitas (man who does odd tasks) · es hacelotodo (man who does odd tasks) · ota مرمتجی (man who does odd tasks) · sv hantlangare (man who does odd tasks) · es mentolato (man who does odd tasks) · de Hausmeister (man who does odd tasks)

handyman en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈhændimæn/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *handuz Proto-West Germanic *handu Old English hand Middle English hond English hand Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English handy Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English handyman From handy + -man.

Meanings

1. (informal, intransitive) To work as a handyman; to do odd jobs.
   • My daddy worked too hard at Buck's Sporting Goods by day plus handymanning in the evenings, and my mother spent too many hours fixing trays at the meat-and-three for me to act like we had neither pot nor window. Let the record show that we had both. 2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, page 5:
   • Instead I walk, uncertainly across the concrete backyard my father and his friends handymanned into existence so proudly, so that none of us would ever have to play in dirt, in muck, in mud again. 2014, Peter Wells, Boy Overboard:
   • They handymanned all week. And every night Grandad would come in with rosy cheeks and a huge appetite and compliment my mom on what a great cook she was. 2020, Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped:

Forms