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Handle   /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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Handle" Quotes from Famous Books



... opened and shut. An instant later steps crept down the passage—steps which were meant to be silent, but which reverberated harshly through the empty house. Holmes crouched back against the wall, and I did the same, my hand closing upon the handle of my revolver. Peering through the gloom, I saw the vague outline of a man, a shade blacker than the blackness of the open door. He stood for an instant, and then he crept forward, crouching, menacing, ...
— The Return of Sherlock Holmes • Arthur Conan Doyle
... I reckon the plantation knows by this time that what Mistress Patricia says is law. Here come the boats with the boxes. Tell the men to be careful how they handle them." ...
— Prisoners of Hope - A Tale of Colonial Virginia • Mary Johnston
... decided. But the old canvas bag, containing all my worldly possessions, was too bulky and awkward to be carried. After some hours of dickering, I paid eight dollars for a second-hand bicycle, tied the bag on the handle bars and started for the ...
— A Mountain Boyhood • Joe Mills
... a kind used from trees. The blade is about twenty inches long, the handle about twenty-four inches. The end of the handle is heavily weighted with a lump of several pounds, composed of clay, cow-dung, and chopped straw, and the weapon, beautifully sharpened, is dropped upon the elephant's back by a hunter from the branches of a tree. The constant movement ...
— Ismailia • Samuel W. Baker
... there is no danger of their going astray. The Germans examine the parcels before they are given out to make sure that they do not contain maps or compasses for the prisoners; that is the only time they handle them. ...
— Into the Jaws of Death • Jack O'Brien


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