handle

English

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈhæn.dl̩/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Hyphenation: han‧dle
  • Rhymes: -ændəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

Noun

handle (plural handles)

  1. The part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.
    • 1854, John Hovey Robinson, Silver-knife: or, The hunters of the Rocky Mountains‎, page 133:
      Once his fingers strayed to the handle of his hunting-knife, and I should have interfered had I not been conscious that Wickliffe was on his guard.
    • 1902, “Atomic Weight of Lanthanum”, in Journal of the Chemical Society‎, volume 81, part 2:
      By pushing the fork downwards so that its teeth pass the handle of the stopper, and then turning the cover of the desiccator 90°, the handle of the stopper falls into the furrows and rests upon them.
    • 1905, “Origin of the Respiratory Sounds”, in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London‎, volume 37:
      By keeping the handle of the bellows fixed in any given position the lung within the chamber could be kept for a short time at any desired degree of distension, and by pressing at intervals upon the bag, air could be forced to and fro between the bad and the lung outside the chamber, without distending the air within it.
    • 1972, Frank Zappa (lyrics and music), “Billy the Mountain”:
      But first they were gonna stop in Las Vegas / It's off to Las Vegas / To check out the lounges / Pull a few handles
  2. An instrument for effecting a purpose (either literally or figuratively); a tool, or an opportunity or pretext.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:
      They overturned him to all his interests by the sure but fatal handle of his own good nature.
    • 1894, Robert Needham Cust, Essay on the prevailing methods of the evangelization of the non-Christian world‎, page 70:
      Nothing can be more reprehensible, or wicked, than to make Christian Missions a handle for political expansion.
    • 1978, William Hay Taliaferro, John Herbert Humphrey, Advances in immunology‎, page 224:
      Many investigators feel that the double requirement for the antigen-recognition by cytotoxic T cells or DTH-reactive T cells may provide a handle for solving the T-cell receptor puzzle, and that anti-Id reagents are to be used in this approach.
    • 1997, Allen S. Johnson, A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville‎, →ISBN, page 95:
      Indeed, at the beginning of the session he was careful to make "no declarations of what might hereafter be measures, so as to give anybody a handle for fixing him down to any particular system."
  3. (gambling) The gross amount of wagering within a given period of time or for a given event at one of more establishments.
    The daily handle of a Las Vegas casino is typically millions of dollars.
    • 2001, William Norman Thompson, Gambling in America: an encyclopedia of history, issues, and society‎, →ISBN, page 421:
      For a casino table game,the handle is difficult to determine, as it consists of all the bets made in every game, whether by chip or by cash play.
    • 2001, Harold L. Vogel, Travel industry economics: a guide for financial analysis‎, →ISBN, page 139:
      Note here, however, that the casino's "edge" (its expected value per unit bet, or, in casino jargon, the house p.c.) in table games is expressed as a percentage of the handle and not as a percentage of the drop (even though these might sometimes be the same).
    • 2007, Douglas M. Walker, The economics of casino gambling‎, →ISBN, page 77:
      The results for the dog racing model indicate that increases in lottery sales and decreases in horse racing handle and casino revenues in the state in question statistically increase dog racing handle.
  4. (textiles) The tactile qualities of a fabric, e.g., softness, firmness, elasticity, fineness, resilience, and other qualities perceived by touch.
  5. (slang) A name or nickname, especially as an identifier over the radio or Internet.
    Coordinate terms: alias, call sign, pseudonym
    • 1997, Jack Canfield, Hanoch McCarty, A 4th course of chicken soup for the soul‎, →ISBN, page 312:
      We sat together at the restaurant and asked him about his handle (CB name).
    • 2001, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman‎, →ISBN:
      This was so unexpected that Jack came close to gabbling out his real name instead of the one he had used at the Golden Spoon, the name he also used if the people who picked him up asked for his handle.
    • 2007, Jon Evans, Invisible Armies‎, →ISBN, page 253:
      "I don't actually know his birth name. He just uses his handle."
  6. (slang) A title attached to one's name, such as Doctor or Colonel.
    The successful businessman was knighted and acquired a handle to his name.
  7. (computing) A reference to an object or structure that can be stored in a variable.
    This article describes how to find the module name from the window handle.
    • 1989, Petrus Maria Gerardus Apers, Gio Wiederhold, Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Very Large Data‎, page 383:
      A handle for a type instance is similar to an open file descriptor; it is used to reference that type instance when performing operations on it.
    • 2008, Stephen J. Chapman, MATLAB programming for engineers‎, →ISBN, page 354:
      By contrast, when a host function creates a handle for a nested function and returns that handle to a calling program, the host function's workspace is created and remains in existence for as long as the function handle remains in existence.
  8. (UK, informal) A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.
    Synonym: jug
  9. (Australia, chiefly Northern Territory, New Zealand) A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.
    • 2002, Kate Duignan, Breakwater‎, Victoria University Press, →ISBN, page 86:
      A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer.
    • 2006, Rod Hylands, Lateral Connection‎, →ISBN, page 68:
      Imagine staring into the heavens on a clear night and seeing a handle of beer floating amongst the stars, or an angel, or the face of a famous celebrity.
    • 2008, Stephanie E. Butler, Fodor's 2009 New Zealand‎, →ISBN, page 571:
      When ordering a beer, you'll get either a handle (mug) or a one-liter jug (pitcher).
  10. (US) A half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.
    • 2014, Ray Stoeser, Josh Cuffe, Bury My Body Down By the Highway Side, page 83:
      Josh bought a fifth of Evan Williams for Andrew as a token of gratitude and Ray, because of the financial constraints, purchased the cheapest handle of whiskey he could find: Heaven Hill.
  11. (geography, Newfoundland and Labrador, rare) A point, an extremity of land.
    the Handle of the Sug in Newfoundland
  12. (topology) A topological space homeomorphic to a ball but viewed as a product of two lower-dimensional balls.
    • 2003, Gordana Matić, Clint McCrory, Topology and geometry of manifolds‎, →ISBN, page 182:
      Such a 2-handle cancels the 1-handle so the manifold is D4.
  13. (algebraic geometry) The smooth, irreducible subcurve of a comb which connects to each of the other components in exactly one point.
  14. (slang) A person's nose.
    • 1811, Charles Lamb, Prince Dorus:
      That Nose, which in the infant could annoy, / Was grown a perfect nuisance in the boy. / Whene'er he walk'd, his Handle went before, / Long as the snout of Ferret, or Wild Boar; […]
Synonyms
  • (285 mL glass of beer): pot (Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania), middy (Australia), schooner (South Australia)
  • (half-gallon of alcohol): sixty/sixty-sixer (Canada)
Hyponyms
  • (part of an object held in the hand when used or moved): bail (bucket, kettle, pitcher), haft (tool, weapon), hilt (sword), knob, stail (tool), stilt (plough)
Derived terms
  • give a handle
Descendants
  • → Japanese: ハンドル (handoru)
    • → Hokkien: 捍多路 (hăn-tó͘-luh)
    • → Sakizaya: handulu
Translations
slang: title attached to one's name, such as Doctor or Colonel — see title

Etymology 2

From Middle English handlen, from Old English handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”), from Proto-West Germanic *handulōn, from Proto-Germanic *handulōną (“to take, grip, feel”), equivalent to hand +‎ -le. Cognate with West Frisian handelje, hanneljen, hanljen (“to handle, treat”), Dutch handelen (“to handle, deal, act, negotiate”), German handeln (“to act, trade, negotiate, behave”), Swedish handla (“to buy, trade, deal”), Icelandic höndla (“to handle”).

Verb

handle (third-person singular simple present handles, present participle handling, simple past and past participle handled)

  1. (transitive) To touch; to feel or hold with the hand(s).
  2. (transitive, rare) To accustom to the hand; to take care of with the hands.
    • 1679, William Temple, An essay upon the advancement of trade in Ireland.:
      The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to house and handle their colts for at least six months every year.
  3. (transitive) To manage, use, or wield with the hands.
  4. (transitive) To manage, control, or direct.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
      You shall see how I'll handle her
    • 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian‎:
      The findings emerged from questionnaires filled in by 2,211 staff in 145 wards of 55 hospitals in England and Wales and 105 observations of care of dementia patients. Two-thirds of staff said they had not had enough training to provide proper care, 50% said they had not been trained how to communicate properly with such patients and 54% had not been told how to handle challenging or aggressive behaviour.
    • 2015, Nora Quick, Case of the Missing Millionaire:
      “You also handle the accounts for Julie Wojakowski, what about her? Any recent deposits in that amount?”
    • 2019 October, “Consultation on University Station designs”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
      University station opened in May 1978 and was designed to handle around 500,000 passengers a year, a significantly lower figure than the 3.5 million passengers who now use it.
  5. (transitive) To treat, to deal with (in a specified way).
    she handled the news with grace
    the Persians handled the French ambassador shamefully
  6. (transitive) To deal with (a subject, argument, topic, or theme) in speaking, in writing, or in art.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      We will handle what persons are apt to envy others...
    • 1976, Krishna Chaitanya, A History of Indian Painting: The modern period, page 21:
      If traditional painting handled the same themes again and again, a truth which people are apt to overlook is that we often get startlingly different compositions of the same theme or episode.
  7. (transitive) To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands; hence, to buy and sell.
    a merchant handles a variety of goods, or a large stock
  8. (transitive, rare) To be concerned with; to be an expert in.
  9. (transitive) To put up with; to endure (and continue to function).
    I can't handle this hot weather.
    • 2014, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban, →ISBN:
      For example, a program that loads data from a file needs to handle the case where that file is not found.
  10. (intransitive) To use the hands.
  11. (soccer, intransitive) To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball.
  12. (intransitive) To behave in a particular way when handled (managed, controlled, directed).
    the car handles well
Synonyms
The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
to put up with; to endure (and continue to function) — see put up with,‎ endure
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Anagrams

Alemannic German

Verb

handle

  1. (Uri) to stroke the teats of a dairy cow until they fill with milk

References

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse handla, hǫndla, from hǫnd (“hand”). In the sense trade influenced by from Middle Low German handelen and German handeln.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /hanlə/, [ˈhanlə]

Verb

handle (imperative handl, infinitive at handle, present tense handler, past tense handlede, perfect tense har handlet)

  1. act (to do something)
  2. trade, shop

German

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Verb

handle

  1. inflection of handeln:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. singular imperative
    3. first/third-person singular subjunctive I

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse handla and German handeln.

Verb

handle (imperative handl or handle, present tense handler, passive handles, simple past and past participle handla or handlet, present participle handlende)

  1. to act (do something)
  2. to deal, trade, to do business
  3. to shop (visit shops)

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Norse handla and German handeln.

Verb

handle (present tense handlar, past tense handla, past participle handla, passive infinitive handlast, present participle handlande, imperative handle/handl)

  1. to act (do something)
  2. to deal, trade, to do business
  3. to shop (visit shops)

Derived terms

References
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