How to Use empty-handed in a Sentence
empty-handed
adjective-
After all, Mama always said to never go to someone’s home empty-handed.
— Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2024 -
As a culture of etiquette, Southern visitors know not to arrive anywhere empty-handed.
— Nicole Letts, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2024 -
He’s already been very classy about the jokes on social media and the simple fact is 80% of the nominees lose, so there’s no shame in going home empty-handed.
— Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 27 Nov. 2024 -
That doesn’t mean the Dodgers will emerge from the trade deadline empty-handed.
— Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2023 -
But there’s good news for fans who have come up empty-handed.
— Emily Heil, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024 -
But the team came away nearly empty-handed in the effort.
— Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 29 Aug. 2023 -
The group fled empty-handed, but Tess’ wounds were fatal.
— Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2023 -
The inning, though, showed fight and a stubborn refusal to slink away empty-handed.
— Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2024 -
Some went to extreme lengths to ensure they wouldn’t be left empty-handed.
— Kyle Glaser, Orange County Register, 16 May 2024 -
Killers went home empty-handed on Sunday night, one of the rare times that’s happened this season.
— Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2024 -
Both women come back empty-handed, but not for lack of trying.
— Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2023 -
But the researchers packed up four hours later, empty-handed.
— Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2023 -
Many of them left empty-handed, according to residents who spoke to The Times.
— Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2023 -
Why would anybody point a gun at poor empty-handed Stephen Plato McRae?
— Christopher Ketcham, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023 -
That fellow ended up walking out empty-handed, as did a man who ditched a full cart near the entrance.
— Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024 -
The police arrived and attempted to chase down the car but returned empty-handed.
— Katherine Itoh, NBC News, 3 Feb. 2024 -
Needing to get home to their two papillons, the couple leave empty-handed.
— Cathy Alter, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2023 -
But as for Koala’s cause of death, scientists are coming up empty-handed.
— Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024 -
McElhenney first set about a futile search of the Racehorse Grounds for any leftovers, but he was left empty-handed.
— Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 9 Oct. 2024 -
The argument here is that if too many people feel comfortable showing up empty-handed, the potluck won’t be much of a meal at all.
— Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 26 July 2024 -
Last year, his dad won the vintage category, but Mitch had gone home empty-handed.
— Michael E. Miller, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023 -
But Ukraine will hardly be leaving the summit empty-handed.
— Yasmeen Serhan, Time, 12 July 2023 -
Don’t be surprised if one or two of them leave the Academy Awards empty-handed, or with just a single statuette to show for their efforts.
— Radhika Seth, Vogue, 20 Feb. 2024 -
But the distributor there didn’t want to work with Washington, so Mizell sent him away empty-handed.
— Vulture, 29 Jan. 2024 -
Debra Goldman is a die-hard TJX shopper that never leaves a store empty-handed.
— Thomas Lee, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2023 -
The Rangers came away empty-handed after registering just one shot on goal while Stenlund was in the penalty box.
— Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 26 May 2024 -
However, four days of searching last week left them empty-handed.
— Alexis Simmerman, Austin American-Statesman, 25 Oct. 2024 -
The empty-handed customers disperse and roam in search of another bakery.
— Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Sep. 2023 -
Last year, Colorado came up empty-handed in all categories at the prestigious awards.
— Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 10 June 2024 -
But that’s nothing compared to Angela Lansbury, who went home empty-handed a whopping 18 times.
— Jenelle Riley, Variety, 16 June 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'empty-handed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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