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.
One Gulf official said the attack on Monday caused minor damage to the kingdom’s Abqaiq oil-processing and stabilization facility, the world’s largest, handling roughly 7 million barrels a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Discovering the truth became my way of handling the consequences of the grief reaction," Swire says.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The contrast between her district and the city overall offered Raman an angle to present herself as more effectively handling the homelessness crisis than Bass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Wegner himself said earlier this month he would not run for re-election after months of criticism over his handling of a major blackout in January apparently caused by sabotage.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
“You spend a lot of time handling man-made devices that won’t help you in a true emergency. I think it’s high time you learn some survival skills.”
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
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.
