- handle
- handle vb1 Handle, manipulate, wield, swing, ply are comparable when they mean to deal with or manage with or as if with the hands typically in an easy, skillful, or dexterous manner.Handle implies the acquirement of skill sufficient to accomplish one's ends{
a child can be taught early to handle a spoon, but it takes longer to teach him to handle a knife and fork
}{tools to be handled with care— T. S. Eliot
}{he knows how to handle men so as to get what he wants out of them
}{Richelieu sent Charnacé out to handle that situation— Belloc
}Manipulate implies dexterity and adroitness in handling. Especially in its basic use the term suggests mechanical or technical skill{able to manipulate the most delicate scientific apparatus
}{the kind of courage required for mountaineering, for manipulating an airplane, or for managing a small ship in a gale— Russell
}In its extended sense the term often specifically implies crafty or artful and sometimes fraudulent handling for the attainment of one's own ends{a small group of men by manipulating the convention were able to procure the nomination of their candidate
}{agencies by which some human beings manipulate other human beings for their own advantage— Dewey}}
}Wield in its most common sense implies mastery and vigor in the handling of an implement (as a tool or weapon){he knows how to wield an axe
}{wield a sword
}{navvies wielding their hammers in the streets— Ellisy
}Wield also may be employed with reference to such an instrument as a writer's pen, an artist's brush, or a king's scepter to imply not the vigorous movement of the implement itself but its effectiveness as a tool in producing a desired result or as a symbol of power; thus, to wield a scepter means to exercise sovereign power or to hold sway{of Wu Tao-tzu it is said that it seemed as if a god possessed him and wielded the brush in his hand— Binyon
}The term may also take for its object such words as authority, influence, or power when their masterful exercise is implied{a great editorial writer wields a tremendous influence over the minds of men
}{her newborn power was wielded ... by unprincipled and ambitious men— De Quincey
}Swing may be used in place of wield when a flourishing with a sweep is also suggested{he swings his golf club with great effectiveness
}In extended and often informal use it may mean to handle successfully, often in spite of great difficulties{can swing 20,000 workers behind the Party line— Arke
}{the corporation was able to swing its bond issue
}{he could not swing the deal
}Ply may be used in place of handle or wield when great diligence or industry are also suggested{go ply thy needle; meddle not— Shak.
}{plying patiently the chisel and mallet— Montague
}{plied his oars
}The term may also be used when constant and diligent employment (as of a power or faculty or at a trade) is also suggested{the housewife plied her own peculiar work— Wordsworth
}{plying his trade as a bookseller
}2 *treat, dealAnalogous words: manage, control, *conduct, direct3 *touch, feel, palpate, pawAnalogous words: inspect, examine, *scrutinize: try, test (see PROVE)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
