numb-handed

Definitions

1. Having hands that are numb.
2. Inept or clumsy.

Examples

“The wine-dark seas pass⟳ under, and the heavy boats swing⟳ round, and the men roll their nets and go, numb-handed, backs bent, harbor bound, gift-laden, home: where light⟳, fast fading, locks land⟳ in gold, and gulls cross, crying, the scene, and cross again, crying.”

“I was in the delivery room as she was born into this world, nauseated by the excitement and numb-handed from Izzy squeezing the life from my digits.”

“Soaked to the skin and numb-handed, we secured the boat between two grounded bergs and camped in a long-deserted Inuit hut.”

“'Oh, you scandalous, hypocritical, rusty-booted, numb-handed son of a puffing corn-cutter, why don't you turn⟳ your attention to feeding hens, cultivating cabbages, or making pantaloons for small folk, instead of killing hounds in this wholesale way'! roared Jack; an enquiry that set⟳ him foaming again.”

“Most folks associate London with White Fang, The Call⟳ of the Wild, and struggling numb-handed to start⟳ a fire in the snow⟳. (You know⟳ how that one ends.)”

“Bette Mandl, who had the original idea for this very special issue⟳ on O'Neill and Gender, contacted a particularly fine array of experts in that burgeoning field of study⟳, and pretty much created the entire issue⟳ with her usual diligence and grace, leaving numb-handed but happy-hearted me with little to do but sit⟳ back and marvel at the splendor of the whole package.”

“He signs the painting in a vigorous but numb-handed red - always he finds the signature the most uncomfortable strokes in the canvas - and steps back to observe⟳...”

CEFR level