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.
She said the broadcaster's handling of incidents as they arose was appropriate, and that the review had borne that out.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s district director for three years, handling constituent services on the Westside and in the Valley.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
It conducts inspections of establishments that claim to sell kosher food, ensuring those establishments are honest about the sourcing, labeling and handling of foods they represent as kosher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
She was haunted by her handling of deadly wildfires in 2025, which erupted while she was traveling for the Biden administration.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
Eighty-five percent of the public supported Johnson’s handling of the crisis.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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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.