| handicap | 1. A physical, mental, or emotional condition that interferes with an individual's normal functioning. 2. Reduction in a person's capacity to fulfill a social role as a consequence of an impairment, inadequate training for the role, or other circumstances. See: disability. 3. An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race to the competitor possessing inferior advantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was five seconds, or ten pounds, and the like. 4. A race, for horses or men, or any contest of agility, strength, or skill, in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors. Origin: From hand in cap; perh. In reference to an old mode of setting a bargain by taking pieces of money from a cap. (06 Mar 2000) |
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| soc | 1. The lord's power or privilege of holding a court in a district, as in manor or lordship; jurisdiction of causes, and the limits of that jurisdiction. Liberty or privilege of tenants excused from customary burdens. 2. An exclusive privilege formerly claimed by millers of grrinding all the corn used within the manor or township which the mill stands. Soc and sac, the full right of administering justice in a manor or lordship. Origin: AS. Soc the power of holding court, sway, domain, properly, the right of investigating or seeking; akin to E. Sake, seek. Sake, Seek, and cf. Sac, and Soke Alternative forms: sock, and soke. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |