Meanings
handling1
plural handlings
- countableuncountableA touching, controlling, managing, using, taking care of, etc., with the hand or hands, or as with the hands.
baggage handling
2 more examples
the heauens, and your faire handeling / Haue made you maister of the field this day
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 281864, Oregon. Legislative Assembly. House of Representatives […] at San Francisco it is warehoused and reshipped to Liverpool, or other foreign market; and in exchange for this wheat, comes back the merchandise which has to pass through all these shipments, reshipments, warehousings, handlings, &c.
- countableobsoleteuncountableThe mechanism for handling or manipulating something.
1 more example
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 door, which was all but closed, and to whose handlings I was unaccustomed.
1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman - countableuncountableartThe 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 - countableuncountableA criminal offence, the trade in stolen goods.
handling2
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of handle
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe action of touching with the hands (or the skillful use of the hands) or by the use of mechanical means
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
handling · noun
- Old Englishhandlung“handling”
- Middle Englishhandlinge
- Englishhandling
From Middle English handlinge, hondlunge, from Old English handlung (“handling”), equivalent to handle + -ing. Cognate with Dutch handeling (“trade, operation, action”), German Handlung (“act, action”), Swedish handling (“act, deed, action”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →handling · verb
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek χειρισμός
- χειρισμός (kheirismós)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
Bulgarian манипулиране
- манипулиране (manipulirane)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
Catalan manipulació
- manipulaciótouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Chinese Mandarin 處理 /处理
- 處理 /处理 (chǔlǐ)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
Danish håndtering
- håndteringtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Esperanto ricelo
- ricelocriminal offence
Finnish käsittely, varastetun tavaran kauppa
- käsittelytouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- varastetun tavaran kauppacriminal offence
French manipulation, maniement
- manipulationtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- maniementtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
German Bedienung, Handhabung
- Bedienungtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- Handhabungtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- Umgangtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- Handlingtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- Hehlereicriminal offence
Hungarian kézbevétel, kézben tartás
- kézbevételtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- kézben tartástouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- kézbe fogástouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- kezeléstouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- bánásmódtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Indonesian penanganan
- penanganantouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Irish glacadh
- glacadhtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Italian gestione, manipolazione
- gestionetouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- manipolazionetouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- ricettazionecriminal offence
Japanese 取り扱い
- 取り扱い (toriatsukai)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
Latin tractātiō
- tractātiōtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Malay pengelolaan
- pengelolaantouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Norwegian Bokmål håndtering, handtering
- håndteringtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- handteringtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Persian دستزدن, کیاستن
- دستزدنtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- کیاستنtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Polish paserstwo
- paserstwocriminal offence
Portuguese manuseio, manejo
- manuseiotouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- manejotouching, controlling, managing with the hands
Russian обрабо́тка, манипули́рование
- обрабо́тка (obrabótka)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
- манипули́рование (manipulírovanije)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
- обслу́живание (obslúživanije)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
- обхожде́ние (obxoždénije)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
- обраще́ние (obraščénije)touching, controlling, managing with the hands
Spanish manejo, handling
- manejotouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- handlingtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- alcahueteríacriminal offence
- receptacióncriminal offence
Swedish hantering, häleri
- hanteringtouching, controlling, managing with the hands
- hälericriminal offence
Cite this entry
handling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handling
“handling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handling. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handling.
Source: handling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.