manipulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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manipulates,
present (3rd person singular)
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manipulated,
past participle, past
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manipulating
present participle
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to manage or influence skillfully, especially in an unfair manner.
to manipulate people's feelings.
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to handle, manage, or use, especially with skill, in some process of treatment or performance.
to manipulate a large tractor.
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to adapt or change (accounts, figures, etc.) to suit one's purpose or advantage.
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Medicine/Medical. to examine or treat by skillful use of the hands, as in palpation, reduction of dislocations, or changing the position of a fetus.
verb
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(tr) to handle or use, esp with some skill, in a process or action
to manipulate a pair of scissors
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to negotiate, control, or influence (something or someone) cleverly, skilfully, or deviously
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to falsify (a bill, accounts, etc) for one's own advantage
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(in physiotherapy) to examine or treat manually, as in loosening a joint
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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manipulabilitynoun
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manipulationnoun
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manipulatornoun
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outmanipulateverb (used with object)
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manipulatableadjective
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manipulativeadjective
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manipulatoryadjective
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nonmanipulativeadjective
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nonmanipulatoryadjective
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unmanipulatableadjective
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unmanipulatedadjective
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unmanipulativeadjective
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unmanipulatoryadjective
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manipulativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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manipulatesimple
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manipulatessimple
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have manipulatedperfect
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has manipulatedperfect
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am manipulatingprogressive
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are manipulatingprogressive
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is manipulatingprogressive
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have been manipulatingperfect progressive
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has been manipulatingperfect progressive
Past
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manipulatedsimple
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had manipulatedperfect
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was manipulatingprogressive
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were manipulatingprogressive
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had been manipulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of manipulate
First recorded in 1820–30; back formation from manipulation
Explanation
To manipulate something means to handle it skillfully, like the way a sculptor manipulates clay or a really good politician works a crowd. The verb manipulate evolved from manipulation, which back in the 1700s referred to a method of digging ore. So manipulating something originally only meant moving or arranging it by hand or mechanically. It wasn't until 1864 that people started using the word manipulate to describe someone exerting mental or emotional influence on others.
Vocabulary lists containing manipulate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (1950)
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The Westing Game
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Thus, when his mother started reading child psychology books to better understand a young Del Toro, he read them as well, so that he could try to manipulate her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"If she could build and manipulate the trust of adults across an entire community so effectively, think about how little power babies and young children had behind those closed doors."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
"Who are we allowing to feed into us and manipulate what media we consume, which bubbles we're in?" she continued.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The speed and force violently shook the airframe, formed shock waves along with wings and sent ripples along the components used to control direction and manipulate speed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
But it doesn't interest me to manipulate the French.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Amazing the way he's gifted with the ball, the way he manipulates the ball, and also the way he's able to think for himself.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
He manipulates the physical form of the ingredient to showcase different temperatures and textures: souffle, cream, biscuit, foam, and air.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
She’s showing us exactly how the majority manipulates the text until it gets where it wants to go.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
As Roderigo, whom Iago manipulates like a bored puppeteer idly pulling the strings, Daniel Velez is idiotically gullible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
A writer, like a cinematographer, manipulates the viewer’s perspective on an ongoing story, with the verbal equivalent of camera angles and quick cuts. the marital, the medical, and sometimes both at once.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
In its ruling, the panel said Burwood had engaged in a "sustained, calculated course of conduct" and had manipulated the resident for personal gain.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Can Holmes really be who she is, or is she being manipulated?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
They also fed more frequently and for longer stretches as they tore apart, pulled at, manipulated, and consumed the carcasses.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Gibney says he doesn’t believe Musk manipulated votes, but the sequence leaves open what, if anything, lay behind his apparent early certainty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
How could the Witchlings stop not only the Nightbeast but these powerful witches who manipulated even the Gran?
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Other potential uses include manipulating microscopic particles, cells, and molecules with light, as well as developing more resilient quantum systems.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
"I can understand entirely why they did that, but they did not seem to appreciate that uploading and manipulating images of children in this way can carry real privacy and safeguarding risks."
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
That is where I try to land at the end: We’re not going to solve this problem by manipulating the chatbots.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
Fielder finds himself drawn from behind the camera into the story, struggling to determine whether Holmes and Evans are being candid with him or manipulating him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
She cannot even tell if she is moving herself or manipulating the circus around her.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
