Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1848, 1943
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‡HANDFAST, adj. Also handfest.
1. Fully occupied; gen. applied to a busy housewife or mother (‡Sh. 1956). See Fest.Abd.9 1943:
Mrs S — is fairly hand-fest wi' that bairn o' hers an' canna len' a helpin' han' ava.
†2. Particular, meticulous, exact, precise.Sc. 1848 Carlyle New Letters (1904) II. 62:
There . . . is a most handfast statement of the case, drawn up by me today.
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"Handfast adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/handfast_adj>
