What does handbarrow mean?
A handbarrow is a light, usually two-wheeled cart with handles at both ends. It is designed to be moved by people rather than pulled by an animal or operated from a seated position: in a traditional use, one person pulls while another pushes, although a single person can maneuver one by its handles. The word also serves as a verb, meaning to transport a load in such a cart, though that use is now less common than the noun. Handbarrows remain useful wherever loads must be moved a short distance without machinery, including markets, gardens, warehouses, and building sites. The expression often evokes practical, traditional labor and is sometimes deliberately used for a cart that is cumbersome or old-fashioned. In British English, the term is especially familiar; American English also uses it, while wheelbarrow generally refers more specifically to the one-person, single-wheeled variety. The compound plainly describes a barrow moved by hand, giving ordinary manual work a slightly historical, utilitarian flavor.
A light, usually two-wheeled cart with handles at both ends, used to transport loads by hand.
"The builder used a handbarrow to move the bricks across the site."
The word is not restricted to British English, though it is especially familiar in British usage.
To carry or transport something in a handbarrow.
"They handbarrowed the crates from the truck to the storeroom."
This use is relatively uncommon and often has a practical, traditional, or old-fashioned tone.
The regular plural takes -s and is used for individual carts.
"The movers stacked four handbarrows beside the loading bay."
No engine and no horse: a handbarrow gets moving the way its name says—by hand.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does handbarrow come from?
The word is a late Middle English compound formed from hand and barrow, with barrow denoting a cart and continuing Old English bearwe. It therefore originally meant a cart moved by hand. Wheelbarrow and garden barrow are later compounds built on the same cart-word, while the modern wheelbarrow differs in typically having one wheel and being operated by one person.
Related word forms
How handbarrow is actually used
The noun is standard in British and American English, although the word has a somewhat traditional or utilitarian flavor. The verb is less common and may sound practical or old-fashioned in contemporary settings.
Easily confused with handbarrow
A handbarrow is typically moved by people pulling and pushing it, whereas a wheelbarrow has a single wheel and is normally pushed by one person.
A handbarrow is a wheeled cart used mainly for goods, while a litter is a carrying platform usually designed to bear a person.