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hand puppet

hand puppet

4 2.5
A small puppet you wear on your hand and move with your fingers
  • noun
  • /hænd ˈpʌpɪt/
translation icon : títere de mano
  • Children love to play with hand puppets during the school theater performance.
  • use hand puppets
  • dinosaur hand puppet
  • little hand puppet

Examples

  • Marvin reaches in his briefcase and removes two hand puppets.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • These exquisite hand puppets are recommended for children ages four and up.

    Academic text (1995)
  • If not, let the talking hand puppet fill you in.

    Blog text (8)
  • It was a hand puppet that the Professor took with him everywhere he went.

  • They're hand puppets, not marionettes, on Mister Rogers'.

  • Not only was I a dinosaur freak, I was also tired of sleeping with a beat-up old hand puppet that I kept under my pillow.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The removed eggs were artificially incubated, and the chicks were raised by keepers using hand puppets to mimic adult birds.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Zookeepers use hand puppets resembling adult condors to feed California condor chicks hatched and raised in captivity.

    Academic text (1999)
  • She used a hand puppet to entertain the kids at the birthday party.

  • The hand puppet was made from colorful fabric and had a big smiley face.

Synonyms

puppet
vshand puppet
178 1.9

A doll moved by hand or strings for shows

is the specific name for fabric hollow headed figures worn over fingers
glove puppet
vshand puppet
1 3.9

A small puppet that you put over your hand and move with your fingers

is the general term for fabric hollow headed figures controlled by fingers
glove doll
vshand puppet
6.7

A small puppet you wear on your hand and move with your fingers

is the general term for fabric hollow headed figures controlled by fingers
sockpuppet
vshand puppet
7.2

A puppet made by putting a sock on your hand and moving it

is the broader name for fabric figures worn over fingers and controlled by them

How Complex

marionette
13 7.5
hand puppet
4 2.5

Surface Forms

hand puppet singular
hand puppets plural

Morphology

hand + puppet

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'hand' (the manual extremity) + 'puppet' (a figure manipulated), indicating a puppet operated by the hand. This simple noun-noun compound follows transparent, cross-linguistic logic and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Hand puppet is a puppet you put your hand into so your fingers move its head and body. The name comes from the clear picture of a hand inside the puppet, which is why it means this kind of puppet.