Handiwork means something made or done by hand, especially something that shows skill or effort. When you build a birdhouse in shop class, sand it smooth, and paint it carefully, that finished birdhouse is your handiwork. When a quilter stitches together hundreds of colorful fabric pieces into a beautiful pattern, admirers praise her handiwork.

The word suggests personal involvement and craftsmanship. A factory-made toy isn't handiwork, but a hand-carved wooden train set is. Your grandmother's knitted sweater, your neighbor's stone wall, a jeweler's bracelet: these are all examples of handiwork because someone shaped them with their own hands and skills.

Handiwork can also describe the results of someone's actions, good or bad. If your little brother empties every toy bin onto the floor, you might survey the chaos and say, “This is definitely his handiwork.” Investigators examining evidence at a crime scene try to recognize whose handiwork they're looking at.