handle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈhæn.dl̩/
ipa: /ˈhɛən.dl̩/
note: /æ/ raising
rhymes: -ændəl
Forms: form: handles
form: handling
form: handled
form: handled
Etymology: From Middle English handlen, from Old English handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”), from Proto-West Germanic *handulōn, from Proto-Germanic *handulōną (“to take, grip, feel”), equivalent to hand + -le. Cognate with West Frisian handelje, hanneljen, hanljen (“to handle, treat”), Dutch handelen (“to handle, deal, act, negotiate”), German handeln (“to act, trade, negotiate, behave”), Swedish handla (“to buy, trade, deal”), Icelandic höndla (“to handle”).
Senses: examples: text: Happy, ye leaves! when as those lilly hands [...] Shall handle you.
ref: 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet I”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC:
text: Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 24:39:
text: [...] about his altar, handling holy things
ref: 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
text: Encourage the client to handle her breasts to grow accustomed to touching them, thus enabling milk production in the first few days after birth.
ref: 1995, Adele Pillitteri, Pocket Guide for Maternal & Child Health Nursing, page 63:
text: Robert Huth handled a Bentley shot, only for the offence to go unnoticed.
ref: 2011 February 12, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC:
glosses: To touch; to feel or hold with the hand(s).
examples: text: The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to house and handle their colts for at least six months every year.
ref: 1679, William Temple, An essay upon the advancement of trade in Ireland.:
glosses: To accustom to the hand; to take care of with the hands.
examples: text: That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
text: Light on his feet for a big man, he handled the rifle like a pistol.
ref: 1976, Mel Hallin Bolster, Crazy Snake and the Smoked Meat Rebellion, page 66:
glosses: To manage, use, or wield with the hands.
examples: text: You shall see how I'll handle her
ref: c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: The findings emerged from questionnaires filled in by 2,211 staff in 145 wards of 55 hospitals in England and Wales and 105 observations of care of dementia patients. Two-thirds of staff said they had not had enough training to provide proper care, 50% said they had not been trained how to communicate properly with such patients and 54% had not been told how to handle challenging or aggressive behaviour.
ref: 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:
text: “You also handle the accounts for Julie Wojakowski, what about her? Any recent deposits in that amount?”
ref: 2015, Nora Quick, Case of the Missing Millionaire:
text: University station opened in May 1978 and was designed to handle around 500,000 passengers a year, a significantly lower figure than the 3.5 million passengers who now use it.
ref: 2019 October, “Consultation on University Station designs”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
glosses: To manage, control, or direct.
examples: text: she handled the news with grace
text: the Persians handled the French ambassador shamefully
text: I will not tell thee how Ile handle thee,
But euery common ſouldier of my Camp
Shall ſmile to see thy miſerable ſtate.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
text: How wert thou handled being prisoner?
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
glosses: To treat, to deal with (in a specified way).
examples: text: We will handle what persons are apt to envy others...
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
text: If traditional painting handled the same themes again and again, a truth which people are apt to overlook is that we often get startlingly different compositions of the same theme or episode.
ref: 1976, Krishna Chaitanya, A History of Indian Painting: The modern period, page 21:
glosses: To deal with (a subject, argument, topic, or theme) in speaking, in writing, or in art.
examples: text: a merchant handles a variety of goods, or a large stock
glosses: To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands; hence, to buy and sell.
examples: text: They that handle the law knew me not
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 2:8:
glosses: To be concerned with; to be an expert in.
examples: text: I can't handle this hot weather.
text: For example, a program that loads data from a file needs to handle the case where that file is not found.
ref: 2014, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban, →ISBN:
glosses: To put up with; to endure (and continue to function).
examples: text: They [idols made of gold and silver] have hands, but they handle not
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 115:7:
glosses: To use the hands.
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball.
examples: text: the car handles well
synonyms: ride
glosses: To behave in a particular way when handled (managed, controlled, directed).
Synonyms: deal
feel
finger
manage
touch
treat
Derived terms: behandle
handleability
handled the ball
handle oneself
handlesome
handle up
handle with kid gloves
handle without gloves
handle without mittens
Jesus handle
manhandle
mishandle
outhandle
overhandle
rehandle
too hot to handle
well-handled
Related terms: hand