handle
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈhæn.dl̩/
ipa: /ˈhɛən.dl̩/
note: /æ/ raising
rhymes: -ændəl
Forms: form: handles
Etymology: From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from *handulā. See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).
Senses: examples: text: Once his fingers strayed to the handle of his hunting-knife, and I should have interfered had I not been conscious that Wickliffe was on his guard.
ref: 1854, John Hovey Robinson, Silver-knife: or, The hunters of the Rocky Mountains, page 133:
text: By pushing the fork downwards so that its teeth pass the handle of the stopper, and then turning the cover of the desiccator 90°, the handle of the stopper falls into the furrows and rests upon them.
ref: 1902, “Atomic Weight of Lanthanum”, in Journal of the Chemical Society, volume 81, part 2:
text: By keeping the handle of the bellows fixed in any given position the lung within the chamber could be kept for a short time at any desired degree of distension, and by pressing at intervals upon the bag, air could be forced to and fro between the bad and the lung outside the chamber, without distending the air within it.
ref: 1905, “Origin of the Respiratory Sounds”, in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, volume 37:
text: But first they were gonna stop in Las Vegas / It's off to Las Vegas / To check out the lounges / Pull a few handles
ref: 1972, Frank Zappa, “Billy the Mountain”:
glosses: The part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.
examples: text: They overturned him to all his interests by the sure but fatal handle of his own good nature.
ref: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
text: Nothing can be more reprehensible, or wicked, than to make Christian Missions a handle for political expansion.
ref: 1894, Robert Needham Cust, Essay on the prevailing methods of the evangelization of the non-Christian world, page 70:
text: Many investigators feel that the double requirement for the antigen-recognition by cytotoxic T cells or DTH-reactive T cells may provide a handle for solving the T-cell receptor puzzle, and that anti-Id reagents are to be used in this approach.
ref: 1978, William Hay Taliaferro, John Herbert Humphrey, Advances in immunology, page 224:
text: The way AIDS has become a handle for the New Right's homophobia.
ref: 1985 December 28, Nancy Wechsler, “Boston Forum Calls for Radical Confrontation”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 24, page 2:
text: Indeed, at the beginning of the session he was careful to make "no declarations of what might hereafter be measures, so as to give anybody a handle for fixing him down to any particular system."
ref: 1997, Allen S. Johnson, A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville, →ISBN, page 95:
glosses: An instrument for effecting a purpose (either literally or figuratively); a tool, or an opportunity or pretext.
examples: text: The daily handle of a Las Vegas casino is typically millions of dollars.
text: For a casino table game,the handle is difficult to determine, as it consists of all the bets made in every game, whether by chip or by cash play.
ref: 2001, William Norman Thompson, Gambling in America: an encyclopedia of history, issues, and society, →ISBN, page 421:
text: Note here, however, that the casino's "edge" (its expected value per unit bet, or, in casino jargon, the house p.c.) in table games is expressed as a percentage of the handle and not as a percentage of the drop (even though these might sometimes be the same).
ref: 2001, Harold L. Vogel, Travel industry economics: a guide for financial analysis, →ISBN, page 139:
text: The results for the dog racing model indicate that increases in lottery sales and decreases in horse racing handle and casino revenues in the state in question statistically increase dog racing handle.
ref: 2007, Douglas M. Walker, The economics of casino gambling, →ISBN, page 77:
topics: gambling
games
glosses: The gross amount of wagering within a given period of time or for a given event at one of more establishments.
topics: business
manufacturing
textiles
glosses: The tactile qualities of a fabric, e.g., softness, firmness, elasticity, fineness, resilience, and other qualities perceived by touch.
examples: text: We sat together at the restaurant and asked him about his handle (CB name).
ref: 1997, Jack Canfield, Hanoch McCarty, A 4th course of chicken soup for the soul, →ISBN, page 312:
text: This was so unexpected that Jack came close to gabbling out his real name instead of the one he had used at the Golden Spoon, the name he also used if the people who picked him up asked for his handle.
ref: 2001, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman, →ISBN:
text: "I don't actually know his birth name. He just uses his handle."
ref: 2007, Jon Evans, Invisible Armies, →ISBN, page 253:
coordinate_terms: alias
call sign
pseudonym
glosses: A name or nickname, especially as an identifier over the radio or Internet.
examples: text: The successful businessman was knighted and acquired a handle to his name.
glosses: A title attached to one's name, such as Doctor or Colonel.
examples: text: This article describes how to find the module name from the window handle.
text: A handle for a type instance is similar to an open file descriptor; it is used to reference that type instance when performing operations on it.
ref: 1989, Petrus Maria Gerardus Apers, Gio Wiederhold, Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Very Large Data, page 383:
text: By contrast, when a host function creates a handle for a nested function and returns that handle to a calling program, the host function's workspace is created and remains in existence for as long as the function handle remains in existence.
ref: 2008, Stephen J. Chapman, MATLAB programming for engineers, →ISBN, page 354:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A reference to an object or structure that can be stored in a variable.
synonyms: jug
glosses: A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.
examples: text: A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer.
ref: 2002, Kate Duignan, Breakwater, Victoria University Press, →ISBN, page 86:
text: Imagine staring into the heavens on a clear night and seeing a handle of beer floating amongst the stars, or an angel, or the face of a famous celebrity.
ref: 2006, Rod Hylands, Lateral Connection, →ISBN, page 68:
text: When ordering a beer, you'll get either a handle (mug) or a one-liter jug (pitcher).
ref: 2008, Stephanie E. Butler, Fodor's 2009 New Zealand, →ISBN, page 571:
qualifier: chiefly Northern Territory
glosses: A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.
examples: text: Josh bought a fifth of Evan Williams for Andrew as a token of gratitude and Ray, because of the financial constraints, purchased the cheapest handle of whiskey he could find: Heaven Hill.
ref: 2014, Ray Stoeser, Josh Cuffe, Bury My Body Down By the Highway Side, page 83:
glosses: A half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.
examples: text: the Handle of the Sug in Newfoundland
topics: geography
natural-sciences
qualifier: Newfoundland and Labrador
glosses: A point, an extremity of land.
examples: text: Such a 2-handle cancels the 1-handle so the manifold is D⁴.
ref: 2003, Gordana Matić, Clint McCrory, Topology and geometry of manifolds, →ISBN, page 182:
topics: mathematics
sciences
topology
glosses: A topological space homeomorphic to a ball but viewed as a product of two lower-dimensional balls.
topics: algebraic-geometry
geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: The smooth, irreducible subcurve of a comb which connects to each of the other components in exactly one point.
examples: text: That Nose, which in the infant could annoy, / Was grown a perfect nuisance in the boy. / Whene'er he walk'd, his Handle went before, / Long as the snout of Ferret, or Wild Boar; […]
ref: 1811, Charles Lamb, Prince Dorus:
glosses: A person's nose.
topics: gambling
games
hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
pets
racing
sports
glosses: The amount wagered in the various pari-mutuel pools for a particular event or events.
Synonyms: sense: 285 mL glass of beer
english: Queensland, Victoria
translation: Queensland, Victoria
word: pot
sense: 285 mL glass of beer
word: middy
sense: 285 mL glass of beer
word: schooner
sense: half-gallon of alcohol
word: sixty
sense: half-gallon of alcohol
word: sixty-sixer
Hyponyms: sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
english: bucket, kettle, pitcher
translation: bucket, kettle, pitcher
word: bail
topics: weapon
weaponry
military
tools
engineering
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
war
government
politics
sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
english: tool
translation: tool
word: haft
sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
english: sword
translation: sword
word: hilt
sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
word: knob
sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
english: tool
translation: tool
word: stail
sense: part of an object held in the hand when used or moved
alt: plough
word: stilt
Derived terms: average handle time
axhandle
coffin handle
crank the handle
cross handle
dead man's handle
door handle
drag handle
filehandle
file handle
fly off the handle
get a handle on
go off the handle
grab handle
handleable
handlebar
handlebody
handleless
handleset
handling
have a handle on
jackhandle
Jesus handle
jughandle
ladder handle
long handle
love handle
mophandle
panhandle
pseudohandle
starting handle
stickhandle
swing handle
Related terms: give a handle