manage

American  

[man-ij] / ˈmæn ɪdʒ /

verb (used with object)

• manages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• managed,
  past participle,  past
• managing
  present participle

1. to bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship.

   She managed to see the governor. How does she manage it on such a small income?

   Synonyms:

   contrive, arrange

2. to take charge or care of.

   to manage my investments.

3. to dominate or influence (a person) by tact, flattery, or artifice.

   He manages the child with exemplary skill.

4. to handle, direct, govern, or control in action or use.

   She managed the boat efficiently.

   Synonyms:

   engineer, regulate, conduct, guide

5. to wield (a weapon, tool, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   manipulate, handle

6. to handle or train (a horse) in the exercises of the manège.

7. Archaic. to use sparingly or with judgment, as health or money; husband.

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verb (used without object)

• manages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• managed,
  past participle,  past
• managing
  present participle

1. to conduct business, commercial affairs, etc.; be in charge.

   Who will manage while the boss is away?

2. to continue to function, progress, or succeed, usually despite hardship or difficulty; get along.

   How will he manage with his wife gone? It was a rough time, but we managed.

manage British  

/ ˈmænɪdʒ /

verb

1. (also intr) to be in charge (of); administer

   to manage one's affairs

   to manage a shop

2. to succeed in being able (to do something) despite obstacles; contrive

   did you manage to go to sleep?

3. to have room, time, etc, for

   can you manage dinner tomorrow?

4. to exercise control or domination over, often in a tactful or guileful manner

5. (intr) to contrive to carry on despite difficulties, esp financial ones

   he managed quite well on very little money

6. to wield or handle (a weapon)

7. rare to be frugal in the use of

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noun

1. an archaic word for manège

Synonym Usage

See rule.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overmanage
  verb (used with object)
• undermanage
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-managed
  adjective
• self-managing
  adjective
• undermanaged
  adjective
• unmanaged
  adjective
• well-managed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• managing
  present
• managed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• manage
  simple
• manages
  simple
• have managed
  perfect
• has managed
  perfect
• am managing
  progressive
• are managing
  progressive
• is managing
  progressive
• have been managing
  perfect progressive
• has been managing
  perfect progressive

Past

• managed
  simple
• had managed
  perfect
• was managing
  progressive
• were managing
  progressive
• had been managing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will manage
  simple
• will have managed
  perfect
• will be managing
  progressive
• will have been managing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of manage

First recorded in 1555–65; earlier manege, from Italian maneggiare “to handle, train (horses),” derivative of mano, from Latin manus “hand”

Explanation

To manage is to skillfully handle something. If you can barely manage to keep your goldfish alive, you should probably think twice about adopting those Golden Retriever puppies. The verb manage also means to supervise or oversee either things or people at work. You might manage six people at the donut shop, even though you've only worked there for four months. If you carefully manage your donut shop earnings, you should be able to buy that new car next year. Manage also means to cope with or come to terms with. It might seem scary to go to college in another state, but I know you'll manage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

manage manages managed managing

“I didn’t manage it and self-sabotaged a lot,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

HOAs are proliferating because of the need for an entity to manage common spaces.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Other states are also wrestling with how to manage wildfire risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Many people develop local approaches and manage while others suffer contaminated water and disease, including cholera, dengue fever and malaria, just as billions did before the eruption.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

“I am the liaison assigned to manage the Hello Girls,” he said.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Blair is part of a team at First Eagle led by John Miller that manages several municipal bond funds.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Still, this arrangement means that savings in any fiat currency are vulnerable to the decisions of the central bank that manages it.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

The Incline Village General Improvement District, which owns and manages the residents-only beach where the poisonings took place, has put up another $25,000 and installed additional cameras around the trees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Kounou said Raffall had been contacted by the Insolvency Service, which manages Hall's bankruptcy, regarding the account.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Furthermore, he answers every reproach or accusation with a load of fine promises, which he never manages to keep.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Without him, the Seahawks managed to escape with a 13-10 win in their title game rematch against the New England Patriots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

ORNL's Tomonori Saito managed the project and contributed expertise in polymer science.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

"We managed to sleep through it. At the time, we didn't realise how bad the fire was."

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Van resisted and managed to get back to his feet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

In that way, Duane managed to complete his journeys without collapsing from sheer exhaustion.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, issued a warning on debt levels at the UN general assembly meeting in New York City.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

But there have been plenty of challenges for enterprises in rolling out and managing AI agents—among them cost, cybersecurity risks and the potential for too many agents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

“The Bureau of Reclamation is managing Shasta operations under a temperature management plan developed in coordination with state and federal fishery agencies,” Reclamation spokesperson Peter Soeth said in an email.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Chelsea have already confirmed they plan to enter an academy side in the third tier and Manchester City women's managing director Charlotte O'Neill has previously said she would want to enter a team too.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

I was too busy resenting Barack for managing to fit workouts into his schedule, for example, to even begin figuring out how to exercise regularly myself.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• administer
• conduct
• dominate
• govern
• guide
• handle
• maintain
• operate
• oversee
• regulate
• run
• supervise
• take care of
• take over
• train
• use