At hand; convenient for use.
1650. It was placed handy, and convenient for such as went up to sacrifice.—Fuller’s ‘Pisgah-Sight,’ i. 400. (N.E.D.)
1775. i … found mahogany growing so handy that i took in about 4,000 feet of it in a very few days.—B. Romans, ‘Florida,’ p. liv., Appendix. (N.E.D.)
1819. Having no milk handy, [I rubbed] the cork to powder.—Mass. Spy, Sept. 1.
1852. I ’ve seen this child whipped with a poker, knocked down with the shovel or tongs, whichever came handiest, &c.; and, seeing that she is used to that style of operation, I think your whippings will have to be pretty energetic, to make much impression.—Mrs. Stowe, ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ ch. xx. (N.E.D.)
