handling
Americannoun
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a touching, grasping, or using with the hands.
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the manner of treating or dealing with something; management; treatment.
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the manual or mechanical method or process by which something is moved, carried, transported, etc.
adjective
noun
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the act or an instance of picking up, turning over, or touching something
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treatment, as of a theme in literature
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the process by which a commodity is packaged, transported, etc
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( as modifier )
handling charges
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law the act of receiving property that one knows or believes to be stolen
Etymology
Origin of handling
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English handlung (noun); equivalent to handle + -ing 1
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.
Users don’t usually keep much sulfuric acid on hand because it requires careful handling and special tanks for storage, Sinha said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
Through weekly appointments over nearly a decade, Zissman sat with Sydney’s mother and paid the household bills by check, handling everything from the cable bill and utilities to insurance and medical bills.
From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026
In a statement, the police said officers investigating the theft of a mobile phone in Pimlico, London, in October 2025 had arrested "a 28-year-old man on suspicion of handling stolen goods".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
It came as the UK's police watchdog confirmed that a serving officer with London's Metropolitan Police and four ex-officers were being investigated for their handling of the allegations.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
Her hands shook as she held the brown-wrapped carton creased with excessive handling.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions 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.
