Webster's English Dictionary

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handicap

1. hand.i.cap \'han-di-.kap\ n [obs. E handicap (a game in which forfeits 
   were held in a cap), fr. ha]nd in cap 1: a race or contest in which an 
   artificial advantage is given or disadvant age imposed on a contestant to 
   equalize chances of winning; also : the advantage given or disadvantage 
   imposed 2: a disadvantage that makes achievement unusually difficult 
2. handicap vt or hand.i.capped;  or hand.i.cap.ping 1a: to give a handicap 
   handicap to  1b: to assign handicaps to  2: to put at a disadvantage