manoeuvre
Americannoun
noun
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a contrived, complicated, and possibly deceptive plan or action
political manoeuvres
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a movement or action requiring dexterity and skill
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a tactic or movement of one or a number of military or naval units
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(plural) tactical exercises, usually on a large scale
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a planned movement of an aircraft in flight
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any change from the straight steady course of a ship
verb
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(tr) to contrive or accomplish with skill or cunning
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(intr) to manipulate situations, etc, in order to gain some end
to manoeuvre for the leadership
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(intr) to perform a manoeuvre or manoeuvres
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to move or deploy or be moved or deployed, as military units, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of manoeuvre
C15: from French, from Medieval Latin manuopera manual work, from Latin manū operāre to work with the hand
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.
Metternich was a man who “preferred the subtle manœuvre to the frontal attack” and sometimes “confused policy with intrigue.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2018
Buck duplicated the manœuvre, this time to the left.
From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London
The remainder formed the rear, with orders, if attacked, to dismount at once, and fire over the saddle, leaving myself and the others to manœuvre as cavalry.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol IV. No. XX. January, 1852. by Various
Many who saw this memorable rout, in which the laughing pompiers followed with their leather pipes the scampering heroes, declare that no military manœuvre ever produced so rapid an evacuation of troops.
From Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1 of 2) by Trollope, Frances Milton
The forts that commanded the river were, by this manœuvre of the enemy, rendered comparatively useless, and an open road to the city lay before him.
From The Second War with England, Vol. 2 of 2 by Headley, Joel Tyler
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.
