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Glite Dictionary
🕵️ To control unfairly 👐 To handle skillfully 💆 To adjust the body
to manipulate

to manipulate

22 6.9
To move or press a part of the body by hand to help it work better
  • verb
  • /məˈnɪpjʊˌleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : manipular
  • Gradually, he felt her start to relax and respond tentatively to his manipulating hands.
  • physically manipulate
  • ability to manipulate

So I'd rather kind of manipulate the skin to keep it as taut as possible.

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Examples

  • So I'd rather kind of manipulate the skin to keep it as taut as possible.

    Wayne Goss

  • So we're gonna learn how to manipulate the joints through technique.

    Female Fight Squad (2017)

  • The user must be able to manipulate small objects and use tactile cues.

    Academic text (2001)

  • So how are you manipulating the cartilage to change its appearance in the nostril?

  • The athletes in open-skill-dominated sports have to manipulate and adjust their movements in accordance with the ever-changing external environment.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Zipper pulls and button hooks can ease the task of manipulating fasteners.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The therapist will manipulate the patient's shoulder to relieve discomfort.

  • During the massage, the professional expertly manipulated my back muscles to ease tension.

  • He learned how to manipulate the spinal alignment to improve the patient's posture.

Synonyms

to handle
vsto manipulate
328 1.0

Touch or hold something with your hands, often carefully

is specifically a manual body treatment for therapy rather than general touching
to massage
vsto manipulate
59 3.3

To rub someone's muscles to relieve pain and tension

is a manual treatment that adjusts body parts for therapeutic purposes

How Forceful

to knead
4 4.3
to manipulate
  • Specialized
22 6.9
massage
271 2.4
press
11 1.3
to touch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

manipulate infinitive
manipulated past
manipulated past participle
manipulating present participle
manipulates third person singular

Morphology

manipulate = manipul + ate

The therapeutic sense ('to treat or handle manually') is closely related to the literal 'handle' meaning, but the Latin-derived stem is not an obvious English base, so the morphological relation is not fully transparent to learners.

Etymology

Manipulate comes from the Latin manus 'hand', so in medicine it means to use your hands to move or adjust parts of the body. That's why a therapist who manipulates a joint is using careful hand work to help healing.