/ · 1894 Brewer’s · H · Handle
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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