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
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.
See Examples For:
Burnham, an MP between 2001 and 2017, has little room to manoeuvre amid high public debt and strict financial rules requiring him to balance government spending against tax revenue.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Burnham will have little room for manoeuvre amid sluggish economic growth, high public debt and strict financial rules requiring him to balance government spending against tax revenue.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
There will be some hand-holding as you manoeuvre through the overwhelming crowds.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Addressing Willetts, she said: "You deliberately made a decision to ignore the rules of the road," adding that he had carried out "a highly dangerous manoeuvre" by riding the wrong way around the roundabout.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Sometimes this manoeuvre can be justified; but often it gives rise to a new sort of Whig history.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
According to the UK defence source, the Russian frigate appeared to have been "drifting rather than being manoeuvred under power, which may have made her feel more vulnerable".
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
With a steady hand, she manoeuvred a huge wind turbine section, five metres in diameter, across the yard.
From Barron's ● Mar. 7, 2026
Unlike the more common ballistic missiles, which travel in a fairly predictable arc – a parabolic curve - hypersonic glide vehicles can move in an erratic way, manoeuvred in final flight towards their target.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025
An hour's drive northwest of Paris, near Amiens, in a large barn surrounded by gentle green hills, a muscular, 700kg Holstein cow manoeuvred herself into an automated milking enclosure, watched by her owner, Sophie Lenaerts.
From BBC ● May 5, 2024
He manoeuvred the ship over the ruins of Epidaurus.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Ex-health minister Wes Streeting, also manoeuvring for the top job, said Tuesday the prime minister should be given "space over the weekend" to consider his future.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
The ship and three others still under construction are smaller than CalMac's last new vessel, the dual-fuel Glen Sannox, and use a conventional diesel-electric propulsion system with some battery power available while manoeuvring.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
Both sides have been manoeuvring around these positions all year, trying to reinforce roads access and fortifications around them.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
For months however, factions within the ZANU-PF have been manoeuvring for the extension.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025
The Nazis are manoeuvring him like a pawn.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
