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   hansel

   /ˈhans(ə)l/

   noun

   • 1. a gift given at the beginning of the year or to mark an acquisition or the start of an enterprise, supposedly to bring good luck.
   • ▪ the first instalment of a payment.

   verb

   • 1. give a hansel to: "the practice of hanselling the master still flourished in Scotland"
   • ▪ inaugurate (something), especially by being the first to try it: "a floodlit fixture to officially hansel the completed stadium"

   Word Origin Middle English (denoting luck): apparently related to late Old English handselen ‘giving into a person's hands’, and Old Norse handsal ‘giving of the hand to seal a promise’, from hand + an element related to sell; the notion of ‘luck’, however, is not present in these words.

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • H

     4

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

   • S

     1

   • E

     1

   • L

     1

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