The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Handkerchief \Hand"ker*chief\ (h[a^][ng]"k[~e]r*ch[i^]f; 277),
   n. [Hand + kerchief.]
   1. A piece of cloth, usually square and often fine and
      elegant, carried for wiping the face or hands.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A piece of cloth shaped like a handkerchief to be worn
      about the neck; a neckerchief; a neckcloth.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

handkerchief
    n 1: a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or
         as a costume accessory [syn: handkerchief, hankie,
         hanky, hankey]

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Handkerchief
   Only once in Authorized Version (Acts 19:12). The Greek word
   (sudarion) so rendered means properly "a sweat-cloth." It is
   rendered "napkin" in John 11:44; 20:7; Luke 19:20.


The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

HANDKERCHIEF, n.  A small square of silk or linen, used in various
ignoble offices about the face and especially serviceable at funerals
to conceal the lack of tears.  The handkerchief is of recent
invention; our ancestors knew nothing of it and intrusted its duties
to the sleeve.  Shakespeare's introducing it into the play of
"Othello" is an anachronism:  Desdemona dried her nose with her skirt,
as Dr. Mary Walker and other reformers have done with their coattails
in our own day -- an evidence that revolutions sometimes go backward.