Handle

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Handle \Han"dle\ (h[a^]n"d'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Handled}
     (-d'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Handling} (-dl[i^]ng).] [OE.
     handlen, AS. handlian; akin to D. handelen to trade, G.
     handeln. See {Hand}.]
     1. To touch; to feel with the hand; to use or hold with the
        hand.


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              Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh.
                                                    --Luke xxiv.
                                                    39.
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              About his altar, handling holy things. --Milton.
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     2. To manage in using, as a spade or a musket; to wield;
        often, to manage skillfully.
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              That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper.
                                                    --Shak.
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     3. To accustom to the hand; to work upon, or take care of,
        with the hands.
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              The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to
              house and handle their colts six months every year.
                                                    --Sir W.
                                                    Temple.
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     4. To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands;
        hence, to buy and sell; as, a merchant handles a variety
        of goods, or a large stock.
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     5. To deal with; to make a business of.
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              They that handle the law knew me not. --Jer. ii. 8.
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     6. To treat; to use, well or ill.
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              How wert thou handled being prisoner? --Shak.
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     7. To manage; to control; to practice skill upon.
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              You shall see how I will handle her.  --Shak.
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     8. To use or manage in writing or speaking; to treat, as a
        theme, an argument, or an objection.
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              We will handle what persons are apt to envy others.
                                                    --Bacon.
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     {To handle without gloves}. See under {Glove}. [Colloq.]
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Handle \Han"dle\ (h[a^]n"d'l), v. i.
     To use the hands.
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           They have hands, but they handle not.    --Ps. cxv. 7.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Handle \Han"dle\, n. [AS. handle. See {Hand}.]
     1. That part of vessels, instruments, etc., which is held in
        the hand when used or moved, as the haft of a sword, the
        knob of a door, the bail of a kettle, etc.
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     2. That of which use is made; the instrument for effecting a
        purpose; a tool. --South.
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     {To give a handle}, to furnish an occasion or means.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  handle
       n : the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in
           order to use or move it; "he grabbed the hammer by the
           handle"; "it was an old briefcase but it still had a good
           grip" [syn: {grip}, {handgrip}, {hold}]
       v 1: be in charge of, act on, or dispose of; "I can deal with
            this crew of workers"; "This blender can't handle nuts";
            "She managed her parents' affairs after they got too
            old" [syn: {manage}, {deal}, {care}]
       2: interact in a certain way; "Do right by her"; "Treat him
          with caution, please"; "Handle the press reporters gently"
          [syn: {treat}, {do by}]
       3: deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression;
          "This book deals with incest"; "The course covered all of
          Western Civilization"; "The new book treats the history of
          China" [syn: {cover}, {treat}, {plow}, {deal}, {address}]
       4: touch, lift, or hold with the hands; "Don't handle the
          merchandise" [syn: {palm}]
       5: handle effectively; "The burglar wielded an axe" [syn: {wield}]
       6: show and train; "The prize-winning poodle was handled by
          Mrs. Priscilla Prescott"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  335 Moby Thesaurus words for "handle":
     accomplish, act toward, administer, aim, air, alibi, analyze,
     apology, appellation, appellative, apply, be in,
     be responsible for, bed, bed down, behave toward, bestow, bilge,
     binomen, binomial name, blain, bleb, blind, blister, blob, boss,
     bow, brandish, break, bridle, brush, bubble, bulb, bulge, bulla,
     bump, bunch, burl, button, buy and sell, byname, byword, cahot,
     call the signals, canvass, captain, care for, caress, carry,
     carry on, carry out, carry through, chart a course, chine, cloak,
     clump, cognomen, color, come in contact, command, comment upon,
     complete, cond, conduct, condyle, conn, consider, contend with,
     control, controvert, convex, cope with, cover, cover story,
     cover-up, coxswain, criticize, cryptonym, curry, currycomb,
     deal by, deal in, deal with, debate, deliberate, deliberate upon,
     denomination, descant, designation, device, direct, discharge,
     discourse, discourse about, discuss, dispatch, dispense,
     dispose of, dissert, dissertate, do by, do with, dominate, dowel,
     drench, drive, ear, employ, empty title, enact, engineer, epithet,
     eponym, euonym, examine, exchange views, excuse, execute, exercise,
     exert, exploit, facade, feed, feel, feel of, feint, finger, flange,
     flap, flick, flourish, fodder, fondle, front, gall, gentle, gloss,
     gnarl, go into, govern, grasp, grip, groom, guide, guise, haft,
     harness, have the conn, head, head up, helm, helve, hill, hilt,
     hitch, hold, honor, honorific, hump, hunch, hyponym, inquire into,
     investigate, job, jog, joggle, knob, knock around, knot, knur,
     knurl, label, lame excuse, lay, lead, lead on, level, lip, litter,
     locus standi, loop, lump, make, make go, make the rules,
     make use of, manage, maneuver, manipulate, market, mask,
     mastermind, merchandise, milk, mole, moniker, mountain, name,
     namesake, navigate, nevus, nomen, nomen nudum, nub, nubbin, nubble,
     officer, operate, order, ostensible motive, oversee, palm, palpate,
     papilloma, pass under review, pat, paw, peg, perform, perform on,
     pilot, play, ply, point, poke at, poor excuse, practice, prescribe,
     pretense, pretension, pretext, prod, proper name, proper noun,
     protestation, public motive, pull the strings, put-off,
     quarterback, rap, reason, reason about, reason the point, refuge,
     regulate, remark upon, respond to, retail, review, rib, ridge,
     ring, rub down, run, saddle, scientific name, screen, secret name,
     see to, sell, semblance, serve, shake, sham, shape a course,
     shoulder, show, sift, skipper, smoke screen, sobriquet, spine,
     stalking-horse, steer, steward, stratagem, stud, study, style,
     subterfuge, supervise, survey, swing, tab, tackle, tag, take,
     take care of, take command, take the lead, take up, talk,
     talk about, talk of, talk over, tame, tap, tautonym, tend, test,
     thresh out, thumb, title, touch, touch upon, trade in, traffic in,
     train, transact, treat, treat of, trick, trinomen, trinomial name,
     try, tubercle, tubercule, twiddle, use, utilize, varnish, veil,
     ventilate, verruca, vesicle, wale, wart, water, wave, welt,
     wholesale, wield, work, write up, yoke
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  handle n. 1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a `nom de guerre'
     intended to conceal the user's true identity. Network and BBS handles
     function as the same sort of simultaneous concealment and display one
     finds on Citizen's Band radio, from which the term was adopted. Use of
     grandiose handles is characteristic of {warez d00dz}, {cracker}s,
     {weenie}s, {spod}s, and other lower forms of network life; true hackers
     travel on their own reputations rather than invented legendry. Compare
     {nick}, {screen name}. 2. A {magic cookie}, often in the form of a
     numeric index into some array somewhere, through which you can
     manipulate an object like a file or window. The form `file handle' is
     especially common. 3. [Mac] A pointer to a pointer to
     dynamically-allocated memory; the extra level of indirection allows
     on-the-fly memory compaction (to cut down on fragmentation) or aging out
     of unused resources, with minimal impact on the (possibly multiple)
     parts of the larger program containing references to the allocated
     memory. Compare {snap} (to snap a handle would defeat its purpose); see
     also {aliasing bug}, {dangling pointer}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  handle
       
          1.  (From Citizen's Band amateur radio slang) An
          electronic pseudonym or "nom de guerre" intended to conceal
          the user's true identity.  Network and BBS handles function as
          the same sort of simultaneous concealment and display one
          finds on CB.
       
          Use of grandiose handles is characteristic of {cracker}s,
          {weenie}s, {spod}s, and other lower forms of network life;
          true hackers travel on their own reputations rather than
          invented legendry.
       
          Compare {nick}.
       
          2.  (Macintosh) A pointer to a pointer to
          dynamically-allocated memory.  The extra level of indirection
          allows on-the-fly memory compaction (to cut down on
          {fragmentation}) or garbage collection of unused resources,
          with minimal impact on the (possibly multiple) parts of the
          larger program containing references to the allocated memory.
       
          Compare {snap} (to snap a handle would defeat its purpose).
          See also {aliasing bug}, {dangling pointer}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1995-02-28)