manhandle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to handle roughly.
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to move by human strength, without the use of mechanical appliances.
verb
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to handle or push (someone) about roughly
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to move or do by manpower rather than by machinery
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
manhandlesimple
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manhandlessimple
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have manhandledperfect
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has manhandledperfect
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am manhandlingprogressive
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are manhandlingprogressive
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is manhandlingprogressive
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have been manhandlingperfect progressive
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has been manhandlingperfect progressive
Past
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manhandledsimple
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had manhandledperfect
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was manhandlingprogressive
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were manhandlingprogressive
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had been manhandlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of manhandle
Explanation
When you manhandle something, you pick it up, push it, or pull it roughly. You might gasp watching movers manhandle your fragile furniture as they load it into a moving van. You can manhandle things, and you can also manhandle people, shoving or grabbing them. If security workers at the airport manhandle a little old lady, nearby passengers will probably speak up in her defense. This current meaning arose in the late nineteenth century — earlier, manhandle meant "attack an enemy," and before that, "wield a tool."
Vocabulary lists containing manhandle
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:
Are they why he explodes out of his stance to manhandle defenders in the run game?
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2023
As long as he's not too tight at the weight then I think he can bully and manhandle Smith, being the naturally bigger guy.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2023
BYU was a 19 ½-point favorite and was expected to manhandle the Eagles.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2021
I know Chase Young can manhandle a blocking sled.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2021
Kermit’s boots had been rotting off his feet from all the time he spent wading in the river trying to manhandle the canoes.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
At 6 feet 9 and 330 pounds, he manhandles players from other schools.
From Washington Post ● May 10, 2016
Eifman manhandles Gershwin’s “Concerto in F” and “I Got Rhythm.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2015
Toibin never manhandles life and would in fact prefer not to leave any fingerprints on its lapels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2014
In its turn, Oxford manhandles him considerably, de-bagging* him, staging mock parades in his honor to the tune of Ovah Theah.
From Time Magazine Archive
But their hope for endless playmates goes wrong when they get manhandled by toddlers and held hostage by Lotso, leading to a climactic escape from an incinerator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
On Friday, Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gillani, president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, alleged in a video statement that police manhandled the couple before arresting them.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
According to the New York Times, Trump liked Lewandowski for his “feisty instincts and off-color humor” but he ended up reluctantly firing him after he’d manhandled a reporter.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2025
After getting manhandled by two opponents from the Mountain West Conference, UCLA’s offensive line largely held up against a Penn State defense that was supposed to be the Nittany Lions’ strength.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025
When I touched it, it stuck to me; when I manhandled it, it turned leathery.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
"I just saw something that sickened my stomach," Schumer said, "the manhandling of a United States Senator."
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2025
Blasi, who was on a team that battled the VA more than a decade ago over the same issues in the current case, is more sanguine about Carter’s manhandling of that giant federal bureaucracy.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2024
Almighty skating and sleight-of-hand playmaking can, in an instant, give way to manhandling opposing players.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2022
If Arkansas were to lead by 26 points after three quarters and rush for a staggering 333 yards in a 40-21 manhandling, that might ladle on further appeal for some.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2021
He held the furious boy away, but he was frightened of what the consequences might be of defying a direct order from the son of a senator, let alone manhandling him.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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.
