Handling
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A touching, controlling, managing, using, taking care of, etc., with the hand or hands, or as with the hands. countable, uncountable
"baggage handling"
- 2 the action of touching with the hands (or the skillful use of the hands) or by the use of mechanical means wordnet
- 3 The mechanism for handling or manipulating something. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"In mortal terror of people forcing an entrance at such an hour, and in such a manner as to leave no doubt of their purpose, I would have turned to fly when first I heard the noise, only that I feared by any quick motion to catch their attention, as I also ran the danger of doing by opening the door, which was all but closed, and to whose handlings I was unaccustomed."
- 4 manual (or mechanical) carrying or moving or delivering or working with something wordnet
- 5 The mode of using the pencil or brush; style of touch. countable, uncountable
"A miniature[…]remarkable for its brilliancy of colour and charming freedom of handling."
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- 6 the management of someone or something wordnet
- 7 A criminal offence, the trade in stolen goods. countable, uncountable
- 1 present participle and gerund of handle form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
More examples"Bill was careless in handling his pistol."
Etymology
From Middle English handlinge, hondlunge, from Old English handlung (“handling”), equivalent to handle + -ing. Cognate with Dutch handeling (“trade, operation, action”), German Handlung (“act, action”), Swedish handling (“act, deed, action”).
From handle.
Related phrases
More for "handling"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.