Handy

handy
    adj 1: easy to reach; "found a handy spot for the can opener"
           [syn: {handy}, {ready to hand(p)}]
    2: easy to use; "a handy gadget"
    3: skillful with the hands; "handy with an axe"
    n 1: United States blues musician who transcribed and published
         traditional blues music (1873-1958) [syn: {Handy}, {W. C.
         Handy}, {William Christopher Handy}]
    

Handy \Hand"y\ (h[a^]nd"[y^]), a. [Compar. {Handier}
   (-[i^]*[~e]r); superl. {Handiest}.] [OE. hendi, AS. hendig
   (in comp.), fr. hand hand; akin to D. handig, Goth. handugs
   clever, wise.]
   1. Performed by the hand. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            To draw up and come to handy strokes. --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Skillful in using the hand; dexterous; ready; adroit.
      "Each is handy in his way." --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Ready to the hand; near; also, suited to the use of the
      hand; convenient; valuable for reference or use; as, my
      tools are handy; a handy volume.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Naut.) Easily managed; obedient to the helm; -- said of a
      vessel.
      [1913 Webster]
    

130 Moby Thesaurus words for "handy":
      Daedalian, accessible, adaptable, adept, adjacent, adroit,
      agential, agentival, agentive, all-around, apt, artistic,
      assisting, at hand, authoritative, available, baby, baby-sized,
      bantam, banty, bravura, brilliant, clean, clever, close by,
      close-by, compact, conducive, convenient, convenient to,
      coordinated, crack, crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, deft,
      dexterous, dextrous, diminutive, diplomatic, ductile, duodecimo,
      easily reached, employable, excellent, expert, facilitating, fancy,
      favoring, feasible, flexible, foolproof, forwarding, good, goodish,
      graceful, helpful, ingenious, instrumental, intermediary,
      magisterial, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, masterful,
      masterly, mediating, mediatorial, miniature, miniaturized, minikin,
      minimal, ministerial, ministering, minuscule, nearby, neat, nimble,
      no mean, of all work, on call, on deck, on hand, on tap, pliable,
      pliant, pocket, pocket-sized, politic, pony, practical,
      professional, proficient, promoting, propinquant, propinquous,
      quick, quite some, ready, ready at hand, resourceful, serviceable,
      skilled, skillful, slick, small-scale, some, statesmanlike,
      stylish, subminiature, subservient, tactful, the compleat,
      the complete, to hand, toy, tractable, twelvemo, untroublesome,
      usable, useful, versatile, vest-pocket, virtuoso, well-done,
      wieldable, wieldy, workmanlike, yielding