handshake

hand +‎ shake. See the appendix for the history of the gesture itself.

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Handshake 1.

handshake (plural handshakes)

1. The grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement.
   • 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 88:

     Eccles' handshake, eager and practiced and hard, seems to symbolize for him an embrace. For an instant Rabbit fears he will never let go.

2. (computing) An exchange of signals between two devices when communications begin in order to ensure synchronization.

handshake (third-person singular simple present handshakes, present participle handshaking, simple past and past participle handshaked or handshook)

1. (intransitive) To perform a handshake; to shake hands.
2. (computing, intransitive) To perform a handshake with another device.

• shake on it

• shakehand