Skip to main content
to handbuild

to handbuild

7.2
To make a pot or bowl by hand without using a potter's wheel
  • verb
  • /ˈhændˌbɪld/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hacer a mano
  • In pottery class, we learned how to handbuild our own cups without a potter's wheel.

Examples

  • He prefers to handbuild his pots instead of using a wheel for more artistic freedom.

  • I rarely throw and would not be able to replicate the things I handbuild on a wheel.

    Blog text (1)
  • The artist decided to handbuild her newest vase to give it a unique shape.

Synonyms

to craft
vsto handbuild
170 3.2

To make something by hand with skill

is narrower, used only for making pottery by hand without a wheel
to handcraft
vsto handbuild
17 3.7

To make something by hand with skill and care

is limited to shaping pottery by hand instead of using a wheel
to hand-build
vsto handbuild
1 6.5

To make pots or bowls by shaping clay with your hands without using a wheel

is the same idea but written without a hyphen

How Handmade

to handcraft
17 3.7
to handbuild
  • Specialized
7.2
to make
1.0
manufacture
33 3.7

Surface Forms

handbuild infinitive
handbuilding present participle
handbuilds third person singular
handbuilt past
handbuilt past participle

Morphology

handbuild = hand + build (transparent) = hand + build

Clear compound of 'hand' + 'build' meaning to construct by hand; the meaning is directly compositional and accessible to learners.

Etymology

Handbuild is a simple combination of hand and build, like the familiar word handmade, and it means to make something 'by hand' rather than with a machine. So when potters handbuild a bowl, they shape the clay 'by hand' not 'on a wheel'.