Word.ws English Dictionary

handlings

handlings is the plural of handling.

Meaning of handling

Noun

handling (countable and uncountable, plural handlings)

  1. A touching, controlling, managing, using, taking care of, etc., with the hand or hands, or as with the hands.
    • baggage handling
  2. (obsolete) The mechanism for handling or manipulating something.
    • In mortal terror of people forcing an entrance at such an hour, and in such a manner as to leave no doubt of their purpose, I would have turned to fly when first I heard the noise, only that I feared by any quick motion to catch their attention, as I also ran the danger of doing by opening the...1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman
  3. The mode of using the pencil or brush; style of touch.
    • A miniature[…]remarkable for its brilliancy of colour and charming freedom of handling.1840, William Makepeace Thackeray, Critical Reviews
  4. A criminal offence, the trade in stolen goods.

Questions about handlings

What is handlings the plural of?
Handlings is the plural of handling.

Words near handlings in the dictionary

  1. handling times
  2. handling up
  3. handling with kid gloves
  4. handling without gloves
  5. handling without mittens
  6. handlings
  7. handlining
  8. Handlins
  9. handlist
  10. handlists
  11. handload

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handlings (page history and authors); handling (page history and authors). 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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Cite this entry: “handlings.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/handlings. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.