HANDLE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Handle

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/hˈændəl/ Listen

verb

Handle v. t. (past & past part. handled; pres. part. handling)

1.

To touch; to feel with the hand; to use or hold with the hand. "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh." "About his altar, handling holy things."

2.

To manage in using, as a spade or a musket; to wield; often, to manage skillfully. "That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper."

3.

To accustom to the hand; to work upon, or take care of, with the hands. "The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to house and handle their colts six months every year."

4.

To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands; hence, to buy and sell; as, a merchant handles a variety of goods, or a large stock.

5.

To deal with; to make a business of. "They that handle the law knew me not."

6.

To treat; to use, well or ill. "How wert thou handled being prisoner?"

7.

To manage; to control; to practice skill upon. "You shall see how I will handle her."

8.

To use or manage in writing or speaking; to treat, as a theme, an argument, or an objection. "We will handle what persons are apt to envy others."

To handle without gloves. See under Glove. (Colloq.)

Handle v. i. To use the hands. "They have hands, but they handle not."

noun

Handle n.

1.

That part of vessels, instruments, etc., which is held in the hand when used or moved, as the haft of a sword, the knob of a door, the bail of a kettle, etc.

2.

That of which use is made; the instrument for effecting a purpose; a tool.

To give a handle, to furnish an occasion or means.

See images of 'Handle'

Etymology of 'Handle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Handle" Quotes from Famous Books

... about how many blankets to take, how much tea and flour; he talked about the kind of boots best fitted for walking on unmade roads: one day when they went out together he discovered a patent "swaggie's friend"—a knife at one end of a composition handle and ...

— Captivity • M. Leonora Eyles

... closed umbrella without a handle, and it has cords at the bottom, to which a car is attached. If we wish to come down by means of this contrivance, we must descend from the car of the balloon to that of the parachute, and then we must unfasten the rope which attaches us to the balloon. ...

— Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy • Frank Richard Stockton

... drew his short mantle more gracefully over his shoulder, and then placed in his belt a poniard whose handle was richly studded, and a purse ...

— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... did in his office as what he said in the House. Lords Cantrip, Thrift, and Fawn were of this class,—and they were all very courteous to Phineas. Envious men began to say of him that he cared little now for any one of the party who had not a handle to his name, and that he preferred to live with lords and lordlings. This was hard upon him, as the great political ambition of his life was to call Mr. Monk his friend; and he would sooner have acted with Mr. Monk than with any other man in the Cabinet. But though Mr. Monk had not deserted him, ...

— Phineas Finn - The Irish Member • Anthony Trollope

... Martin, "I was pleased to go as you can fancy, and the next afternoon off I set. It was such a nice day. The flowers were just at their best—I stopped more than once to gather honeysuckle and twist it round the handle of the basket, it looked so pretty, and when I got to the little wood near which stood grandmother's cottage, I could hardly get on for stopping to look at the flowers that peeped out at the edge that skirted the ...

— Hoodie • Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth

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