handle
noun
- handle of a tool
- part of device designed to be held
- part of a tool
- control over a situation
verb
- manage, take care of
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhæn.d(ə)l/ / /ˈheə̯n.d(ə)l/ / /ˈhɛə̯n.d(ə)l/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“handle”), from Proto-West Germanic *handulā (“handle”). See verb below. Cognate with German Hantel (“dumbbell, barbell”), Danish handel (“handle”). Related to hand.
- The part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.
“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.”
“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.”
- An instrument for effecting a purpose (either literally or figuratively); a tool, or an opportunity or pretext.
“They overturned him to all his interests by the sure but fatal handle of his own good nature.”
“Nothing can be more reprehensible, or wicked, than to make Christian Missions a handle for political expansion.”
- 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.”
“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.”
- The tactile qualities of a fabric, e.g., softness, firmness, elasticity, fineness, resilience, and other qualities perceived by touch.
- A name or nickname, especially as an identifier over the radio or Internet.
“We sat together at the restaurant and asked him about his handle (CB name).”
“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.”
- A title attached to one's name, such as Doctor or Colonel.
“The successful businessman was knighted and acquired a handle to his name.”
- 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.”
“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.”
- A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.
- A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.
“A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer.”
“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.”
- A half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.
“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.”
- A point, an extremity of land.
“the Handle of the Sug in Newfoundland”
- A topological space homeomorphic to a ball but viewed as a product of two lower-dimensional balls.
“Such a 2-handle cancels the 1-handle so the manifold is D⁴.”
- The smooth, irreducible subcurve of a comb which connects to each of the other components in exactly one point.
- A person's nose.
“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; […]”
- The amount wagered in the various pari-mutuel pools for a particular event or events.
verb
Etymology: 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”).
- To touch; to feel or hold with the hand(s).
“Happy, ye leaves! when as those lilly hands [...] Shall handle you.”
“Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh.”
- To accustom to the hand; to take care of with the hands.
“The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to house and handle their colts for at least six months every year.”
- To manage, use, or wield with the hands.
“That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper”
“Light on his feet for a big man, he handled the rifle like a pistol.”
- To manage, control, or direct.
“You shall see how I'll handle her”
“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.”
- To treat, to deal with (in a specified way).
“she handled the news with grace”
“the Persians handled the French ambassador shamefully”
- To deal with (a subject, argument, topic, or theme) in speaking, in writing, or in art.
“We will handle what persons are apt to envy others...”
“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.”
- 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”
- To be concerned with; to be an expert in.
“They that handle the law knew me not”
- To put up with; to endure (and continue to function).
“I can't handle this hot weather.”
“For example, a program that loads data from a file needs to handle the case where that file is not found.”
- To use the hands.
“They [idols made of gold and silver] have hands, but they handle not”
- To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball.
- To behave in a particular way when handled (managed, controlled, directed).
“the car handles well”