maneuver
Americannoun
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maneuvers
plural
-
a planned and regulated movement or evolution of troops, warships, etc.
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maneuvers, a series of tactical exercises usually carried out in the field by large bodies of troops in simulating the conditions of war.
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an act or instance of changing the direction of a moving ship, vehicle, etc., as required.
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an adroit move, skillful proceeding, etc., especially as characterized by craftiness; ploy.
political maneuvers.
verb (used with object)
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maneuvers,
present (3rd person singular)
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maneuvered,
past participle, past
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maneuvering
present participle
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to change the position of (troops, ships, etc.) by a maneuver.
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to bring, put, drive, or make by maneuvers.
He maneuvered his way into the confidence of the enemy.
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to manipulate or manage with skill or adroitness.
to maneuver a conversation.
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to steer in various directions as required.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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maneuversimple
-
maneuverssimple
-
have maneuveredperfect
-
has maneuveredperfect
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am maneuveringprogressive
-
are maneuveringprogressive
-
is maneuveringprogressive
-
have been maneuveringperfect progressive
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has been maneuveringperfect progressive
Past
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maneuveredsimple
-
had maneuveredperfect
-
was maneuveringprogressive
-
were maneuveringprogressive
-
had been maneuveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of maneuver
First recorded in 1470–80 for an earlier sense; 1750–60 for current noun sense; from French manoeuvre, Middle French manuevre “handwork,” derivative of Old French manuvrer, from Latin manū operāre “to do handwork,” equivalent to manū (ablative of manus “hand”) + operāre “to work” ( see operate); replacing earlier maanorre “manual labor,” Middle French, as above
Explanation
You maneuver your way through a crowd, a bureaucracy, traffic, or traffic cones. You can maneuver a car or a piece of machinery. Army maneuvers are highly coordinated movements of troops, supplies and machinery. If you're wondering if the opposite of maneuver is woman-euver, wonder no further. It isn't. Although maneuvering often involves a man on the move, the man- comes from the Latin manus meaning "hand." Maneuver reached English via the French manœuvre meaning "tactical movement" — an interesting maneuver in its own right.
Vocabulary lists containing maneuver
The Hate U Give
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"Rogue Wave," Vocabulary from the short story
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Touching Spirit Bear
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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.
See Examples For:
The Kheibar Shekan is more effective than other Iranian-made missiles because of its ability to maneuver out of the way of air defenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Halkias pointed to the fast food chain’s recent adoption of shredded lettuce on its chicken sandwiches as a cost-slashing maneuver typical of private equity-owned restaurants.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
The maneuver was completed with more than 99% accuracy and consumed less than 10% of the fuel reserved for it.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
But Cress said the fact that the helicopter appeared to be hovering in the air, and at a low altitude, would make it difficult for the pilot to execute the maneuver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
After all, he did manage to maneuver us out of the high school.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
The design combines the robustness needed for difficult, high-speed maneuvers with enough computational efficiency to work in real time.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Listen to how nimbly Perry maneuvers some very tricky intervals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
As for maneuvers that make rollovers into a plan useful, three are common.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Power and politics are the dominant themes in all of them, and in this work, Mr. Harris expertly depicts the political and military maneuvers employed by Caesar and Agrippa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“I should be back shortly. These maneuvers never last long.”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Eventually, the robot gripped the glass by the rim, maneuvered it into place and threw its hands in the air in triumph.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The National Transportation Safety Board report, released Tuesday, said the Airbus AS350 B2 helicopter maneuvered above a collision involving an SUV and an L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
As the head of Japan’s Kwantung army in Manchuria, he flouted orders from Tokyo and maneuvered the government into an aggressive foreign policy that culminated in all-out war with China in 1937.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
That means she recently crossed into her 50s, although when CBS’ Miller asked the glamorous Muppet to confirm that, she creatively maneuvered her interviewer into agreeing that both are 25.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
They approached, and behind them as the bears began to dismantle their fire thrower, the other two ships maneuvered their way to the quayside.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
That gives it a chance of downing the jet-powered Geran-4 drone, an advanced version of the Iranian Shahed, which can reach speeds of 310 mph but slows when maneuvering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The complicated maneuvering is part of a larger dance between tech players over controlling and profiting from the emerging technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Even pro-AI residents have objected to the furtive maneuvering around data centers.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
But Cook’s careful demand forecasting and supply-chain maneuvering has hit a wall with one technological development: artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
There is a certain uniqueness to a festival corn dog, an undeniable combination of grease and cornmeal, of hunger built up from maneuvering around the crowd, of anticipation from the fifteen-minute line.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
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