Word.ws English Dictionary

handle

Syllables: han·dle/ˈhæn.d(ə)l/

handle noun: the part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.

Noun

handle (plural handles)

  1. 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.1854, John Hovey Robinson, Silver-knife: or, The hunters of the Rocky Mountains, page 133
    • 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.1902, “Atomic Weight of Lanthanum”, in Journal of the Chemical Society, volume 81, part 2
  2. 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.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London
    • Nothing can be more reprehensible, or wicked, than to make Christian Missions a handle for political expansion.1894, Robert Needham Cust, Essay on the prevailing methods of the evangelization of the non-Christian world, page 70
  3. 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.2001, William Norman Thompson, Gambling in America: an encyclopedia of history, issues, and society, →ISBN, page 421
  4. 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.
    • We sat together at the restaurant and asked him about his handle (CB name).1997, Jack Canfield, Hanoch McCarty, A 4th course of chicken soup for the soul, →ISBN, page 312
    • 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.2001, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman, →ISBN
  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. 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.1989, Petrus Maria Gerardus Apers, Gio Wiederhold, Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Very Large Data, page 383
  8. (UK, informal) A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.
    Synonyms:
    jug
  9. (Australia, New Zealand, chiefly Northern Territory) A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.
    • A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer.2002, Kate Duignan, Breakwater, Victoria University Press, →ISBN, page 86
    • 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.2006, Rod Hylands, Lateral Connection, →ISBN, page 68
    Synonyms:
    pot, middy, schooner
  10. (US) 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.2014, Ray Stoeser, Josh Cuffe, Bury My Body Down By the Highway Side, page 83
    Synonyms:
    sixty, sixty-sixer
  11. (rare, Newfoundland and Labrador) A point, an extremity of land.
    • the Handle of the Sug in Newfoundland
  12. 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 D⁴.2003, Gordana Matić, Clint McCrory, Topology and geometry of manifolds, →ISBN, page 182
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The smooth, irreducible subcurve of a comb which connects to each of the other components in exactly one point.
  2. (slang) 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; […]1811, Charles Lamb, Prince Dorus
  3. The amount wagered in the various pari-mutuel pools for a particular event or events.

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).
    • Happy, ye leaves! when as those lilly hands [...] Shall handle you.1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet I”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC
    • Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 24:39
  2. (rare, transitive) 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.1679, William Temple, An essay upon the advancement of trade in Ireland.
  3. (transitive) To manage, use, or wield with the hands.
    • That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeperc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • Light on his feet for a big man, he handled the rifle like a pistol.1976, Mel Hallin Bolster, Crazy Snake and the Smoked Meat Rebellion, page 66
  4. (transitive) To manage, control, or direct.
    • You shall see how I'll handle herc. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • 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...2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian
  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.
    • We will handle what persons are apt to envy others...1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
    • 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.1976, Krishna Chaitanya, A History of Indian Painting: The modern period, page 21
  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. (rare, transitive) To be concerned with; to be an expert in.
    • They that handle the law knew me not1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 2:8
  9. (transitive) 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.2014, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban, →ISBN
  10. (intransitive) To use the hands.
    • They [idols made of gold and silver] have hands, but they handle not1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 115:7
  11. (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:
    ride

handle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

handle in Hindi

part of an object held in the hand when used or moved — see also grip, handgrip
हत्था hatthā
part of a door
हत्था hatthā

handle in Tamil

கைப்பிடி, கையாளு

handle in Marathi

handle
कान kān

handle in Urdu

handle
ید yad
handle; hilt
دستہ dasta
More languagesFewer languages
handle in Bengali
সামলানো śamlanō
handle in Telugu
హ్యాండిల్, హ్యాండిల్ చేయండి, హ్యాండల్
handle in Malayalam
പിടി piṭi, പെരുമാറുക perumāṟuka
handle in Kannada
ಹಿಡಿ hiḍi, ಕೈ kai
handle in Punjabi
ਹੈਂਡਲ
handle in Gujarati
દાંડો ḍāṇḍo
handle in Odia
ହ୍ଯ଼ାଣ୍ଡେଲ୍, ହ୍ଯ଼ାଣ୍ଡେଲ, ହ୍ଯ଼ାଣ୍ଡେଲ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ
handle in Sanskrit
कर्ण kárṇa, दण्डक daṇḍaka, दण्ड daṇḍá
handle in Nepali
ह्यान्डल, ह्यान्डल गर्नुहोस्, ह्यान्डल गर्ने
handle in Tagalog
hawakan, puluhan, manggo
handle in Arabic
مِقْبَض miqbaḍ
handle in Malay
pemegang
handle in Indonesian
pegangan
handle in Persian
دسته daste, کیاستن
handle in Thai
ด้าม dâam
handle in Vietnamese
cán, tay cầm

Examples of handle in a sentence

  • But first they were gonna stop in Las Vegas / It's off to Las Vegas / To check out the lounges / Pull a few handles1972, Frank Zappa, “Billy the Mountain”:
  • The way AIDS has become a handle for the New Right's homophobia.1985 December 28, Nancy Wechsler, “Boston Forum Calls for Radical Confrontation”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 24, page 2:
  • 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."1997, Allen S. Johnson, A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville, →ISBN, page 95:
  • When ordering a beer, you'll get either a handle (mug) or a one-liter jug (pitcher).2008, Stephanie E. Butler, Fodor's 2009 New Zealand, →ISBN, page 571:

All 40 example sentences with handle

Synonyms of handle

3 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of handle

Forms of handle

Noun
pluralhandles
Verb
third-person singular presenthandles
present participlehandling
past participlehandled
pasthandled

Past tense of handle: handled

Plural of handle: handles

Origin of handle

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.

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”).

Words formed from handle

Phrases with handle

8 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with handle

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about handle

What does handle mean?
Handle means the part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.
What is handle in Hindi?
Handle in Hindi is हत्था (hatthā). See Handle meaning in Hindi.
How do you use handle in a sentence?
But first they were gonna stop in Las Vegas / It's off to Las Vegas / To check out the lounges / Pull a few handles
What part of speech is handle?
Handle can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce handle?
Handle is pronounced /ˈhæn.d(ə)l/.
What is the plural of handle?
The plural of handle is handles.

Words near handle in the dictionary

  1. handlaid
  2. handlamp
  3. handlamps
  4. handlanger
  5. handlangers
  6. handle
  7. handle oneself
  8. handle time
  9. handle times
  10. handle up
  11. handle with kid gloves

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handle (page history and authors); handle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कान (Marathi) (page history and authors); دستہ (Urdu) (page history and authors); সামলানো (Bengali) (page history and authors); handle (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); പിടി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಕೈ (Kannada) (page history and authors); handle (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); દાંડો (Gujarati) (page history and authors); handle (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); कर्ण (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); handle (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 handle.ogg, en-us-handle.ogg.

Cite this entry: “handle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/handle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.