handicap

«handicap» in Mova's school dictionary: Something that makes it harder for you to do well, a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a handicap, handicaps); verb (handicap, handicaps, handicapped, handicapping)

meaning for a pupil

1) Something that makes it harder for you to do well, a disadvantage, as in «Being small was a handicap in basketball». tree →

2) (sport) In golf, horse racing and some games, a handicap is a score or weight that makes the contest fair between stronger and weaker players. tree →

3) (old-fashioned, now often hurtful) A disability; today people usually say «disability» instead. tree →

4) (verb) To make it harder for someone to do something. tree →

sense in the lessons

In sport, a golfer's handicap shows how good they are: the lower the number, the better. In maths problems about races, a «handicap» start gives some runners a head start. In citizenship lessons, children learn that «handicapped» is old-fashioned and many find it hurtful; say «disabled person» or «person with a disability».

examples

• Not having a map was a big handicap. tree →
• Grandpa's golf handicap is 12. tree →
• The racehorse carried extra weight as a handicap. tree →
• Being new to the school was a handicap at first. tree →
• The bad weather handicapped the rescue team. tree →
• People now say «disabled» rather than «handicapped». tree →

note

Double p in «handicapped», «handicapping». In golf, a lower handicap means a better player. «Handicap» meaning disability is old and may cause offence.

In the corpora

• So they try a real handicap instead: Gwil plays football left-footed and gives Wynne a head start in races.
• A real handicap, like playing with the weaker foot or a head start, makes the game fair and the win real.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «handicap» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.