handfast \hand"fast`\, a.
   Fast by contract; betrothed by joining hands. [Obs.] --Bale.
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handfast \hand"fast`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. handfasted; p. pr.
   & vb. n. handfasting.]
   1. To pledge; to bind. [Obs.]
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   2. To betroth by joining hands, in order to permit
      cohabitation, before the formal celebration of marriage;
      in some parts of Scotland it was in effect to marry
      provisionally, permitting cohabitation for a year, after
      which the marriage could be formalized or dissolved.
      [Obs.]
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   Note: Handfasting was a simple contract of agreement under
         which cohabitation was permitted for a year, at the end
         of which time the contract could be either dissolved or
         made permanent by a formal marriage. Such marriages, at
         first probably not intended to be temporary, are
         supposed to have originated in Scotland from a scarcity
         of clergy, and to have existed at times in other
         countries.
         [Century Dict. 1906.]

handfast \hand"fast`\ (h[a^]nd"f[.a]st`), n.
   1. Hold; grasp [Obs.] --Shak.
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   2. Custody; power of confining or keeping. [Obs.] --Shak.
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   3. A contract; specifically, an espousal. [Obs.]
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handfast \hand"fast`\, a. [G. handfest; hand hand + fest strong.
   See Fast.]
   Strong; steadfast.[R.] --Carlyle.
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