- present participle of handle.
handling
Americannoun
-
a touching, grasping, or using with the hands.
-
the manner of treating or dealing with something; management; treatment.
-
the manual or mechanical method or process by which something is moved, carried, transported, etc.
adjective
noun
-
the act or an instance of picking up, turning over, or touching something
-
treatment, as of a theme in literature
-
-
the process by which a commodity is packaged, transported, etc
-
( as modifier )
handling charges
-
-
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.
YouTube doesn’t allow livestreaming of anyone “holding, handling, or transporting a firearm.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
That left Tanner Scott — last season’s purported closer — handling the bulk of the ninth-inning duties this season, and he finished with a career-high 25 saves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
But White emphasized that for companies handling billions in revenue, "the sums are kind of irrelevant."
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Bank of Ghana says the practice is illegal and amounts to misuse and improper handling of the cedi, the national currency.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Unaware that Salomon was a Son of Liberty, the British hired him to translate for officers handling Hessian troops.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
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.
