handshake

«handshake» in Mova's school dictionary: when two people take each other's right hand and shake… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (handshake, handshakes)

meaning for a pupil

A handshake is when two people take each other's right hand and shake it, to say hello, goodbye, well done, or to agree. tree →

sense in the lessons

counting problems: each pair of people shakes hands once; in everyday life and manners: a firm friendly handshake when meeting an adult, at the end of a game to say «good game», or to agree a deal; phrases: «shake hands», «a firm handshake»

examples

• 4 friends each shake hands with every other friend. tree →
• How many handshakes are there? tree →
• Each handshake is between 2 people. tree →
• 5 players make 10 handshakes. tree →
• The two teams lined up for handshakes after the match. tree →
• He greeted the head teacher with a polite handshake. tree →
• They sealed the deal with a handshake. tree →
• Some people bow or wave instead of a handshake. tree →

note

For n people each pair once: 1 + 2 + … + (n − 1). Trap: n × (n − 1) counts each handshake twice, so divide by 2. 4 people make 6 handshakes; 5 make 10. Manners: look the person in the eye and say hello.

In the corpora

• A special handshake is fun with a close friend, but other people are greeted in an ordinary way.
• A good handshake is firm but not hard, for about two or three shakes.
• A good handshake is firm but not crushing and lasts about two or three shakes.
• Inside jokes and secret handshakes — bump, spin, clap, finger guns — tie friends together.
• When three other kids copy the handshake on Sports Day, Sam is half annoyed and half proud.

Trees and pragmatics

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