ˈweak-ˈhanded, a.
1. Having weak hands; fig. not capable of effective exertion.
| 1539 Bible (Great) 2 Sam. xvii. 2 And I wyll come vpon hym, whyle he is werye and weake handed. 1868 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. iv. 27 Crimes were committed which he had no power to restrain, and, weak-handed and bewildered, he seems to have acted in great matters [etc.]. |
2. = short-handed a.2 2.
| 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. 292 This mode is called girdling, and is only resorted to by those who, to use their own phrase, are weak-handed. 1836 Marryat Pirate xvi, We certainly may defend the schooner from the shore as well as on board; but we are weak-handed. |