Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
👐 A handmade object 👐 To make by hand
to handwork

to handwork

4.6
To make or finish something by hand
  • verb
translation icon : trabajar a mano
  • She prefers to handwork her pottery to ensure each piece has a unique feel.

Examples

  • The artisan decided to handwork the wooden sculpture instead of using machines for a more personal touch.

  • I'm talking dirty, I do handwork.

    About Last Night (2014)

  • The evolution of water-control techniques in the Chapada, from handworking a streambed to guiding a creek to diverting a river to sweep a hillside clear, can show how and when certain regions were worked, and potentially who worked them.

    Academic text (2007)

  • After gathering materials, he will handwork the leather into a custom handbag.

Synonyms

to craft
vsto handwork
170 3.2

To make something by hand with skill

focuses on hand shaping or finishing rather than machine production
to handcraft
vsto handwork
17 3.7

To make something by hand with skill and care

focuses on doing work by hand rather than showing skilled craftsmanship
to hand-build
vsto handwork
1 6.5

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

applies broadly to manual work of many objects, not just pottery
to handbuild
vsto handwork
  • Specialized
7.2

To make a pot or bowl by hand without using a potter's wheel

applies broadly to manual work of many objects, not just pottery

Antonyms

to machine
  • Specialized
4 6.3

To cut and shape metal or other material using a powered tool

How Manual

to handwork
4.6
to assemble
169 2.9
manufacture
33 3.7

Surface Forms

handwork infinitive
handworked past
handworked past participle
handworking present participle
handworks third person singular

Etymology

The verb handwork comes from the same parts, hand and work, and it means to shape or finish something 'by hand'. So, to handwork an item is to work on it carefully without using machines.