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🛠️ To manage ☕ A part to hold 🤲 To touch or hold 💻 A username 🗣️ To discuss 🐕 To train an animal
to handle

to handle

169 1.0
Touch or hold something with your hands, often carefully
  • verb
  • /ˈhændl/
: manipular
  • It's an unusual measure and has to be handled with some tact at the dock.
  • easy to handle
  • handle toxic waste
  • handle separately

Examples

  • A Post-Panamax crane can handle ships with up to 18 rows of containers across.

    Academic text (2008)

  • He will handle the fragile vase with great care to avoid breaking it.

  • It's just a a nice thing to handle a nice single board computer.

  • I want you to stay and watch me handle this.

    Double Indemnity (1944)

  • I'll stay here and handle crowd control.

    Bloodletting (1997)

  • I can handle a knife in the dark as well as anyone.

    Spartacus (1960)

  • I have all the free golf I can handle.

    Due Season (2022)

  • You've got to be able to handle the ball in any situation.

  • Any girl who's been single in London knows how to handle herself.

    Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

  • They can handle heat, they can handle drought, they can handle salt.

Synonyms

to hold
vsto handle
∞ 1.0

To carry or support something with your hands

involves active touching, skilled control, or precise motion rather than just keeping
to wield
vsto handle
126 4.4

To have and use something like a tool or power effectively

is about careful physical touch and skilled control rather than power
to grasp
vsto handle
84 1.1

To take and hold something firmly with the hands

focuses more on careful skilled use and control not only a firm grip
to manipulate
vsto handle
56 4.2

To move or control something with the hands in a skillful way

is more general, covering touching, holding, using, or controlling things

Antonyms

to neglect
189 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

to mismanage
17 4.8

To run something badly so it fails or causes problems

Idioms

to fly off the handle
  • Informal
8 6.8

To suddenly become very angry

to handle with kid gloves
  • Informal
3 7.0

Treat someone very gently to avoid upsetting them

too hot to handle
  • Informal
2 7.7

A subject that is too difficult or risky to deal with

Phrasal Verbs

to have a handle on
20 4.2

To understand something well enough to deal with it

to handle with care
8 3.5

To treat someone or something gently to avoid harm

to handle a situation
5 3.2

To deal with a problem or difficult event well

to handle with ease
1 3.3

Deal with a task or problem easily and with confidence

to crank the handle
1 3.7

Turn a handle by hand to make a machine start or work

to handle oneself
1 5.4

To act calmly and correctly in difficult or stressful situations

to handle your dickery
  • Offensive
9.9

To accept someone's annoying or foolish behavior without complaining

Compounds

love handle
  • Informal
10 3.9

A small roll of fat at the sides of the waist

broom handle
3 1.0

A long stick used to hold and move a broom

ax handle
  • US
3 2.5

A wooden or metal stick you hold to use an ax

mop handle
1 1.0

A long stick attached to a mop used for holding and moving it while cleaning

rake handle
1 2.5

A long stick used to hold a garden tool for moving leaves

crank handle
1 4.9

A piece you turn by hand to start an engine or make a machine work

handle-bars
1 7.4

A large bushy moustache with long ends that curl or hang beside the mouth

basket-handle arch
  • Specialized
8.2

An arch with a wide, flat curve made from parts of three circles, often used in bridges and large buildings

knife-handle
9.9

A small sea clam with a long narrow curved shell like the handle of a knife

starting handle
  • Specialized
8.8

A metal crank you put into an engine and turn by hand to make it run

How Skillfully

to master
181 4.1
to manipulate
56 4.2
to handle
169 1.0
to hold
∞ 1.0
to touch
∞ 1.0
grab
36 1.0

Surface Forms

handle infinitive
handled past
handled past participle
handling present participle
handles third person singular

Morphology

handle = hand (semi-transparent) = hand + le

The connection to 'hand' is clear, but the meaning of 'handle' as a verb extends beyond the literal use of hands.

Etymology

Handle comes from the old word hand, which means 'hand', and it first meant 'to use with the hand'. So to handle something is to touch, hold, or use it carefully.