- present participle of handle.
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.
In Texas, an executor can receive a 5% commission on money they actually receive or pay out while handling the estate.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
The leader of North Lanarkshire Council's SNP group has been readmitted to the party, after a probe into her handling of complaints about former council leader Jordan Linden.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
The council moved that bureau forward last year, and a spokesperson for the Housing Department said that seven positions have been hired within the bureau handling contracts and data oversight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Next week, with Best Buy reporting, we may learn more about how parents are handling pressures to buy new laptops, e-readers, and other student-centric devices in a time of economic uncertainty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I was blind and deaf. I could hardly pull myself together to keep on handling the combat of the regiment on the ground.”
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
